Heart Disease, Race, and Income: A Statistical Analysis
This paper investigates the relationship between race, household income, and heart disease history using a dataset of 100 respondents from the Western Governor Township. The study begins with a literature review covering prevalence, risk factors, racial disparities, socioeconomic influences, and public health interventions related to heart disease in the United States. Two inferential statistical tests are then applied using SPSS: a chi-square test to assess whether race and heart disease history are independent, and a one-way ANOVA to determine whether household income differs significantly across racial groups. Both tests yield non-significant results, leading to the retention of both null hypotheses and prompting discussion of the findings in relation to existing research.
- Introduction: Heart disease burden and study overview
- Background: Literature on risk factors, race, income, and policy
- Hypothesis: Chi-square and ANOVA null and alternative hypotheses
- Methods: Justification of statistical tests and sample description
- Results: Descriptive stats, cross-tabulations, and test outcomes
- Conclusion: Findings summarized and limitations acknowledged
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What makes this paper effective
- The paper clearly states both null and alternative hypotheses for each statistical test before presenting results, making the inferential logic easy to follow.
- The background section draws on authoritative sources — including the CDC, the American Heart Association, and the WHO — to contextualize the quantitative findings within broader public health literature.
- Raw SPSS output is accurately translated into narrative interpretation, demonstrating competence in both data analysis and written reporting of statistical results.
Key academic technique demonstrated
The paper demonstrates hypothesis-driven quantitative research: hypotheses are formally stated, appropriate tests are selected and justified (chi-square for two categorical variables; ANOVA for comparing group means), statistical criteria are applied (p > 0.05 threshold), and conclusions are explicitly tied back to the null hypothesis decision. This mirrors the standard structure of an empirical research report.
Structure breakdown
The paper follows a conventional IMRaD-adjacent structure: an Introduction framing the public health problem; a Background section synthesizing existing literature on risk factors, race, income, and policy; a Hypothesis section formally presenting both sets of null and alternative hypotheses; a Methods section justifying test selection; a Results section presenting descriptive statistics, cross-tabulations, and inferential output with supporting tables; and a Conclusion that synthesizes findings, compares them to the literature, and acknowledges limitations.
Introduction
Heart disease has been an enormous challenge in the United States. The most common form is Coronary Heart Disease (CHD), though many other forms exist. Heart disease accounts for approximately 1 in 4 deaths in the US — a figure high enough to demand serious intervention. Experts have attributed the sharp rise in heart disease deaths to Americans' lifestyles and limited health awareness. Although heart disease can affect anyone at any age, some experts argue that it affects older adults more severely than other age groups.
This paper examines the relationship between heart disease and several other variables. The first section provides background on heart disease in the United States, drawing on multiple studies. Following the literature review, hypotheses are formulated and tested using a heart disease dataset from the Western Governor Township. SPSS software is used to perform the statistical tests, and the results are discussed in detail. A conclusion is then drawn based on the study's output.
Background
Heart disease affects both males and females, meaning both genders face an equal risk of diagnosis (AHA 2019 Heart Disease and Stroke Statistics — American College of Cardiology, 2019). The percentage of males who succumb to heart disease is approximately 25%, whereas the corresponding rate for women is approximately 22% (CDC, 2020). The difference is notable but not statistically significant.
Although the male and female death rates are nearly equal, heart disease symptoms differ between the two genders (AHA 2019 Heart Disease and Stroke Statistics — American College of Cardiology, 2019). Health practitioners tend to misdiagnose women because their heart disease symptoms can resemble those of other conditions. Commonly overlooked symptoms among women include cold sweats, chest discomfort, and nausea. This diagnostic challenge may help explain the slightly higher percentage of women succumbing to heart-disease-related conditions compared to men.
With regard to race and ethnicity, Virani et al. (2020) note that "in the United States, certain racial and ethnic groups face a higher risk of dying from heart disease than others" (p. 27). According to data from the American Heart Association, Black Americans tend to have a higher risk of heart disease than other groups, followed closely by non-Hispanic whites. Those with the lowest risk are Hispanics.
Even though heart disease is the leading cause of death in the country today, this was not the case several decades ago — for instance, in the 1990s. The subsequent increase has been attributed to changes in Americans' lifestyles. Identified risk factors include, but are not limited to, obesity, physical inactivity, poorly controlled diabetes, and smoking. Autopsy reports have also indicated that a rise in atherosclerosis has contributed to increased heart disease deaths (Virani et al., 2020). Increased consumption of junk food and the buildup of excessive bad cholesterol are leading dietary contributors to this trend. Education is another relevant factor: citizens with limited education are more susceptible to heart-related diseases because they have reduced access to information about healthy living.
"Government investment has facilitated remarkable advances in cardiovascular science and medicine" (Holtz, 2020, p. 113). Efforts have included encouraging healthy behaviors — such as improved eating habits and increased physical activity. For instance, Mastroianni, Kahn, and Kass (2019) observe that "government effort to remove trans fats from the food supply has been an efficient way to reduce health risk from partially hydrogenated oils" (p. 213). In conjunction with other levels of government, the American government has also sought to raise awareness of the most effective approaches to preventing heart disease and reducing associated mortality rates (Virani et al., 2020). One such effort has been the placement of heart icon stickers at strategic public locations as a constant reminder that heart-related diseases can be avoided and managed.
A wide range of socioeconomic factors also frustrate efforts to contain heart disease. In some segments of society, people lack sufficient funds to access healthcare services for early detection of heart disease. Managing heart-related conditions is relatively expensive, placing low-income earners at increased risk. Low-income Americans also often lack access to quality foods (World Health Organization: WHO, 2019), and their limited dietary options can result in obesity, diabetes, or both — each of which increases susceptibility to heart disease.
The most prevalent condition leading to heart disease is high blood pressure, or hypertension (World Health Organization: WHO, 2019). As the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC, 2020) points out, "high blood pressure can damage your arteries by making them less elastic, which decreases the flow of blood and oxygen to your heart and leads to heart disease." In 2017 alone, approximately 108 million Americans had hypertension — a number projected to rise without prompt intervention. Nevertheless, Americans have begun to adopt healthier lifestyles, and the interventions described in this paper may help reduce the growing rates of heart-related disease.
In the United States, February 5th is designated as National Wear Red Day. On this occasion, citizens — particularly women — are encouraged to wear red to draw attention to heart disease, which affects a significant number of women across the nation (World Health Organization: WHO, 2019). Citizens also raise awareness and donations to support those affected or at risk. Some hospitals offer free checkups to citizens who cannot otherwise afford them.
Hypothesis
This study uses a heart disease dataset from the Western Governor Township. Two statistical tests are conducted: a chi-square test and an ANOVA test.
The null and alternative hypotheses for the chi-square test are:
Null Hypothesis (H₀): There is no significant relationship between race and history of heart disease; that is, the variables are independent.
Alternative Hypothesis (Hₐ): There is a meaningful relationship between race and history of heart disease; that is, the variables are dependent.
The null and alternative hypotheses for the ANOVA test are:
Null Hypothesis (H₀): There is no significant difference in average income among the four racial groups — Black, Hispanic, White, and Asian.
Alternative Hypothesis (Hₐ): At least one racial group's average income is different from the others.
The ANOVA F-test is used to determine whether a significant difference exists between two or more independent groups. In this study, the independent groups are the four racial categories (Black, Hispanic, White, and Asian), and the dependent variable is household income.
Conclusion
Based on the data analysis, the most dominant racial groups in the Western Governor Township are white (43%) and Black (28%) residents. These results align with the findings of the literature review. The analysis also revealed that the majority of respondents — 58% — have a history of heart disease, while 42% do not. These figures are alarming and suggest that more decisive public health measures are needed to address this situation.
The data further indicate that most Western Governor Township residents live in 3-bedroom homes, suggesting that the population is largely composed of family households. The chi-square test led to the conclusion that heart disease affects the four racial groups in the township equally, with no statistically significant relationship found between race and heart disease history. This finding is consistent with the literature review.
The ANOVA analysis found no significant difference in household income among the four racial groups, suggesting that each group has a broadly comparable income distribution in this sample. This result contradicts some findings in the existing literature regarding racial income disparities, and it indicates that further research is needed to better understand the relationship between race and income in this and similar communities.
Overall, the research and statistical analysis were successfully completed. However, given that the analysis is based on only 100 respondents from a single township, the findings may not be generalizable to the broader population. Broader studies with larger, more diverse samples are needed to draw more definitive conclusions about cardiovascular disease disparities in the United States.
References
AHA 2019 Heart Disease and Stroke Statistics — American College of Cardiology. (2019). AHA 2019 Heart Disease and Stroke Statistics. American College of Cardiology. https://www.acc.org/latest-in-cardiology/ten-points-to-remember/2019/02/15/14/39/aha-2019-heart-disease-and-stroke-statistics
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention — CDC. (2020, September 8). Heart disease facts. https://www.cdc.gov/heartdisease/facts.htm
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention — CDC. (2020, May 19). High blood pressure symptoms and causes. https://www.cdc.gov/bloodpressure/about.htm
Holtz, C. (2020). Global healthcare: Issues and policies. Jones & Bartlett Learning.
Mastroianni, A. C., Kahn, J. P., & Kass, N. E. (2019). The Oxford handbook of public health ethics. Oxford University Press.
NEDARC. (2019). Hypothesis testing.
Virani, S. S., Alonso, A., Benjamin, E. J., Bittencourt, M. S., Callaway, C. W., Carson, A. P., Chamberlain, A. M., Chang, A. R., Cheng, S., Delling, F. N., Djousse, L., Elkind, M. S. V., Ferguson, J. F., Fornage, M., Khan, S. S., Kissela, B. M., Knutson, K. L., Kwan, T. W., Lackland, D. T., & Lewis, T. T. (2020). Heart disease and stroke statistics — 2020 update: A report from the American Heart Association. Circulation, 141(9).
World Health Organization: WHO. (2019, June 11). Cardiovascular diseases. https://www.who.int/health-topics/cardiovascular-diseases#tab=tab_1
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