Disease-Specific Mortality Rates

Coronary Heart Disease

According to the American Heart Association,   from 2017 to 2020, 51.9% of Hispanic men and 37.3% of Hispanic women aged 20 years and older had cardiovascular disease (CVD).

According to the CDC heart disease is the leading cause of death for most of the major racial and ethnic groups in the U.S.  In 2021, the percentages of all deaths caused by heart disease represented 18% of deaths among NHW and a lower percentage of 11.9% among Hispanics. In 2022, Hispanic/Latino Americans had a 27% lower risk of dying from heart disease compared with the overall U.S. population. According to the American Heart Association, a contributing factor for heart disease for the Hispanic/Latino population is the higher rates of obesity and diabetes. In 2022, the Hispanic/Latino death rate from heart disease was 201.3 per 100,000 deaths for men and 132.1 per 100,000 deaths for women.

In 2024, Hispanic/Latino adults were 44% less likely to have coronary heart disease than adults in the U.S. overall. However, the proportion of total deaths due to CHD was similar for the two ethnicities (28.1% in Hispanic men vs. 29.7% in NHW men; 24.1% in Hispanic women vs. 24.9% in NHW women).   According to the American Heart Association (AHA), 2026 Stats update the sudden cardiac arrest (SCA) for Hispanics was lower than overall U.S. rates. The age adjusted rates as SCA (as the underlying cause of death)per 100,000 were 3.2 for Hispanic men and 1.9 for Hispanic women as compared to 4.3 for all U.S. individuals. The age-adjusted rates per 100,000 were 75 deaths for Hispanic men vs.166 for NHW men and 35 for Hispanic women vs. 74 for NHW women.

These comparisons of CHD mortality between Hispanics and non-Hispanic whites appear to give paradoxical results. Despite their adverse risk profiles (or established risk factors), especially the greater risk of diabetes, Mexican Americans (MA), the largest Hispanic ethnic group, have been reported to have lower mortality rates from CHD. In 2023, the age adjusted rates for CHD per 100,000 were 81.9 for Hispanic men and 42.9 for Hispanic women as compared to 82.2 for all U.S. individuals. The NHW rates for CHD were higher for both NHW men (119.0 per 100,000) and women (58.7 per 100,000).  However, the Corpus Christi Heart Project performed a community-based surveillance of all death certificates from a county in Texas potentially relating to CHD, and used standardized methods blinded to ethnicity to validate the diagnoses (Pandey, Labarthe Goff, Chan, & Nichaman, 2001). CHD mortality was found to be 40% higher in MA women (RR=1.43, 95% CI 1.12 – 1.82); in men, the risk ratio (RR) was not significant.

The Hispanic Community Health Study/Study of Latinos (HCHS/SOL) collect data on a wide variety of health conditions.  HCHS/SOL found that all major Hispanic and Latino communities face cardiovascular disease risks that are similar to or higher than those of the non-Hispanic White population. A large majority of the Hispanic/Latino population are affected by at least one risk factor—71% for women and 80% for men.

Cerebrovascular Disease

In 2018, cerebrovascular disease was the 3rd leading cause of death in Hispanic/Latino men over the age of 65 and the fourth leading cause of death for Hispanic/Latino women in the U.S (AoA). Tsoa et al. (2023) emphasizes the implications of strokes– leading to long-term disability and premature death in individuals between the ages of 45-64.   According to the American Heart Association, in 2023 6,564 Hispanic/Latino men and 7,514 Hispanic/Latino women in the U.S. died from stroke.

In 2023, the age adjusted mortality rates for stroke per 100,000 were 39.0 for all U.S. individuals, 35.3 for Hispanic men and 32.5 for Hispanic women. The rates for NHW, slightly higher at 37.7 for NHW men and 37.8 for NHW women. Experts predict that by 2030, an addition 3.4 million will have a stroke, which is a projected increase of 20.5% in prevalance. This is lower than the projected increase of 29% in non-Hispanic whites.

Malignancies

Hispanic/Latinos have lower cancer rates overall with some notable exceptions:

  • Twice as likely to have, and die, from liver cancers compared with non-Hispanic whites
  • Hispanics are 1.5 x higher incidence/mortality rate compared with NHW
  • Twice as likely to be diagnosed, and die, from stomach cancer
  • Hispanic/Latino women are 40 percent more likely to be diagnosed with cervical cancer and thirty percent more likely to die than non-Hispanic white women.