A recent study found Black and Hispanic adults are less likely to be prescribed statins than white and Asian adults, CNN reported March 22.
The study, published in JAMA Cardiology, analyzed data from more than 3,000 people ages 40 to 75. Patients were divided within racial groups by their risk of developing atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease over a 10-year period.
Overall statin use was low among all races, but statin use increased with ASCVD risk. However, the highest-risk group saw the some disparities in statin use based on race:
- Black high-risk participants — 23.8 percent used statins
- Hispanic high-risk participants — 23.9 percent
- White high-risk participants — 37.6 percent
"Making sure that we can improve access to care and opportunities to get … on medications like statins is key to reduce the disparities," study co-author Ambarish Pandey, MD, an assistant professor of internal medicine in the division of cardiology at the Dallas-based University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center, told CNN.