Prevention of cardiovascular disease for historically marginalized racial and ethnic groups living with HIV: A narrative review of the literature

Abstract

Despite developments to improve health in the United States, racial and ethnic disparities persist. These disparities have profound impact on the wellbeing of historically marginalized racial and ethnic groups. This narrative review explores disparities by race in people living with cardiovascular disease (CVD) and the Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV). We discuss selected common social determinants of health for both of these conditions which include; regional historical policies, incarceration, and neighborhood effects. Data on racial disparities for persons living with comorbid HIV and CVD are lacking. We found few published articles (n = 7) describing racial disparities for persons living with both comorbid HIV and CVD. Efforts to reduce CVD morbidity in historically marginalized racial and ethnic groups with HIV must address participation in clinical research, social determinants of health and translation of research into clinical practice.

Keywords: Cardiovascular disease; HIV; Historically marginalized racial and ethnic groups; People living with HIV; Racial disparities.

Figure 1.

Race distribution in Selected Studies Reporting Myocardial Infarction Rates in People Living with HIV and Uninfected Controls

Figure 2.

Studies identified by literature search and reasons for exclusion to arrive at 7 studies that were included in the review