Data show persistent racial, ethnic disparities in US life expectancy prior to COVID-19

Gianna Melillo | June 17, 2022
·3 min read

Story at a glance

  • Although racial disparities in life expectancy have been studied extensively at the national level, less research is available detailing differences at the county level.

  • A new study published in The Lancet outlines changes in life expectancy from 2000 to 2019.

  • Data showed an overall gain in average years lived, but growth rates and average longevity differed based on race and ethnicity.

Different rates of chronic disease, exposure to pollution, education, and income level can all be associated with life expectancy gains or losses.

The COVID-19 pandemic also had dramatic impacts on Americans’ longevity. Data from 2020 showed an average drop of 2.27 years among U.S. men and 1.61 years among U.S. women compared with prior years. Globally, these excess years of lives lost were more than five times that lost to the 2015 seasonal flu.

In an effort to illustrate how life expectancy has shifted over a larger time frame – from 2000 to 2019 – researchers at the University of Washington School of Medicine examined trends at the county level using information from the U.S. National Vital Statistics System and National Center for Health Statistics.

Data showed an overall increase of 2.3 years during the two decades studied, but further analyses revealed distinct racial/ethnic and geographic disparities in longevity.

Looking at over 3,000 counties, investigators did see an average increase of 3.9 years among Black individuals and additional increases of 2.9 years among Asian or Pacific Islanders (API), 2.7 years among Latinos, and 1.7 years among white individuals.

Rates remained the same for American Indian or Alaskan Native (AIAN) populations and the difference in years lived grew when compared with white individuals.

In contrast, the gap between white and Black life expectancy decreased over the period studied, and in some counties, Black life expectancy surpassed that of white individuals.

The study marks the “first country-wide time-series analysis of life expectancy at the county level to include estimates for the AIAN and API populations, and the first at the county level to incorporate corrections for misreporting of racial and ethnic identity on death certificates,” authors wrote.

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They stressed the findings offer an opportunity to tailor interventions for vulnerable communities.

“Researchers, policymakers, and thought leaders can all benefit from this study if we use the data to inform our actions, and this begins with active community engagement,” said study author George Mensah in a press release. 

Most gains observed at the county level also occurred before 2010, researchers said, with nearly 60 percent of counties reporting decreases between 2010 and 2019.

Increases in life expectancy experienced by Black populations were seen in the majority of counties, while these gains rose more than any other racial group. Despite this trend, Black Americans consistently have a lower life expectancy than white Americans overall, measured at 75.3 years on average in 2019 compared with 78.9 years.

In 2019, AIAN populations had the lowest life expectancy compared with other racial/ethnic groups at 73.1 years on average, and life expectancies ranged from 59 to over 93 years.

In some counties, a decrease in life expectancy among white individuals was also recorded, attenuating the modest overall increase.

“These findings underscore the pressing need for local-level, detailed data to support efforts to address and eliminate racial and ethnic health disparities, and provide an opportunity to better understand the root causes of these disparities,” authors wrote.

More research is warranted to better understand whether the gains observed were erased or diminished as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic.

“The pandemic exposed stressors and weaknesses in local and national systems that continuously put our most vulnerable populations at risk,” study author Laura Dwyer-Lindgren said in a statement.

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