NEIGHBORHOOD SOCIOECONOMIC INEQUALITIES AND RACIAL DIFFERENCES IN HEART DISEASE MORTALITY RATES IN MISSISSIPPI

OBJECTIVE: Our study analyzed associations among heart disease mortality, race/ethnicity, and neighborhood area poverty. METHODS: We geocoded and linked heart disease mortality surveillance data for the year 2013. US census tracts were used for analysis and the proportion of population living below poverty level was our measure to monitor neighborhood socioeconomic inequalities in health. RESULTS: There were 7,551 deaths due to heart disease mortality in the year 2013. The mean age at death was 63 years and the numbers of males and females were almost equal. Almost 69% of deaths were white, compared to about 30% blacks. The age-adjusted heart disease mortality rates for whites were 242.6 per 100,000 and 279.31 per 100,000 for blacks. Individuals >66 yr of age were >10 times more likely to die due to heart disease compared with those