Young-onset dementia (YOD), which strikes before age 65, is disproportionately affecting racial and ethnic minority communities in the U.S., according to a new study of Medicare beneficiaries. Researchers found that Black, Hispanic, and American Indian and Alaska Native adults had significantly higher rates of YOD compared to White and Asian adults.Among 2.2 million Medicare beneficiaries aged 45 to 64, 3.25% had YOD. Black adults had the highest age-standardized prevalence at 3.76%, followed by White (3.23%), Asian (3.02%), Hispanic (2.73%), and American Indian and Alaska Native (2.69%) individuals. Notably, the proportion of YOD among all dementia cases was more than twice…
Author: Disparity Matters
Infertility affects millions of women in the U.S., but access to treatment and successful outcomes remain deeply unequal. A new study reveals that while 12% of women aged 20 to 44 report infertility, only 39% receive treatment—and just 10% achieve a live birth through fertility care.The disparities are stark. Among women with infertility, live birth rates were highest for Asian (17%) and White (13%) women, but plummeted for Hispanic (4%) and Black women (3%). The study found that higher education and private insurance significantly increased the likelihood of accessing treatment and having a successful outcome.“Black, Hispanic, and socioeconomically disadvantaged women…
A new study reveals that men living in socioeconomically disadvantaged neighborhoods face significantly higher odds of being diagnosed with advanced prostate cancer, with Non-Hispanic Black men bearing a disproportionate burden of this disparity.Researchers from multiple institutions analyzed data from over 78,000 men diagnosed with prostate cancer in Michigan between 2004 and 2022. They used the Area Deprivation Index (ADI), which measures neighborhood socioeconomic status, to examine how poverty impacts cancer outcomes.The findings show a stark reality: patients living in the most disadvantaged areas were far more likely to present with aggressive disease. For every 10-point increase on the deprivation scale,…
In Bogalusa, Louisiana, gun violence has become a public health crisis, disproportionately impacting Black residents and leaving families shattered. Nineteen-year-old Tajdryn Forbes was shot and killed just weeks before he planned to leave the town. His death is one of many in a community where the violent crime rate is nearly twice the national average.Firearms are now the leading cause of death for children in the U.S., with young Black males suffering the highest toll. In 2023, more Black boys and men aged 15 to 24 were killed by guns than by the next 15 leading causes of death combined.…
Synthetic opioids like fentanyl are driving overdose deaths among older Black men at alarming rates, yet few programs directly address their needs.In Minnesota, Black men aged 55 to 74 make up just about 1 percent of the population in Hennepin and Ramsey counties but accounted for more than 6 percent of overdose deaths between 2020 and 2024. Statewide, Black residents represent 7.5 percent of the population yet more than 19 percent of overdose deaths. Even as overall overdose deaths fell last year, this group continued to face some of the highest fatality rates. In Ramsey County, their death rate was…
Maternal deaths among Black women in the United States surged during the COVID-19 pandemic and have not returned to pre-pandemic levels, even as mortality rates for White women declined, according to new national data.Between 2018 and mid-2024, more than 3.6 million Black women and 17 million White women gave birth. The pregnancy-related mortality ratio was 68 deaths per 100,000 live births for Black women, compared with 26.3 for White women. Similarly, maternal mortality stood at 46.5 for Black women, more than double the 17.6 recorded for White women.During the pandemic, deaths rose sharply for both groups, but Black women experienced…
Poor health is costing Black Americans not only their lives but also their financial futures. Research highlighted in Rolling Out shows how chronic illnesses disproportionately affecting African Americans strip away billions in potential wealth, creating an underrecognized driver of economic inequality.Cardiovascular disease affects 60% of Black adults, a rate far above national averages. The toll is stark: Black Americans die from heart disease at rates 54% higher than whites, cutting off decades of earnings and preventing families from building generational wealth. Diabetes adds another layer of burden, with more than 12% of African Americans living with the disease compared with…
A new national study finds that racial and ethnic disparities in how patients are prescribed pain medication in U.S. emergency departments have not improved despite major shifts in pain management during the opioid crisis.Using data from more than 35,000 emergency visits for acute injuries, researchers compared prescribing patterns for White, Black, Hispanic, and other patients. They found that non-Hispanic White patients were consistently more likely to receive narcotic prescriptions than Black, Hispanic, and other racial groups, regardless of the time period studied.During the first wave of the opioid epidemic in the early 2000s, opioid prescribing in emergency departments rose sharply.…
Clinicians are more likely to express doubt in the medical records of Black patients than White patients, according to a new study published in PLOS One. Researchers analyzed over 13 million electronic health records from a large health system and found that notes about non-Hispanic Black patients were significantly more likely to contain language questioning the patient’s sincerity or competence.Terms like “claims,” “insists,” or “poor historian” were flagged by artificial intelligence tools as indicators of doubt. While fewer than 1% of all notes contained such language, Black patients faced disproportionately higher odds of being described in ways that undermined their…
Hundreds of federally funded research projects aimed at understanding and reducing health disparities have been abruptly canceled under the Trump administration’s second term, sparking alarm among scientists and public health advocates.The National Institutes of Health terminated at least 616 projects focused on closing health gaps between racial and socioeconomic groups. Nearly half of the $913 million in canceled awards had been earmarked for disparities research, including studies on maternal mortality, chronic disease, and access to care in underserved communities.Many researchers say their work was cut not for lack of merit, but because it included terms like “race,” “gender,” or “equity.”…