Hispanic Ethnicity and Social Determinants of Health: Harnessing Data from The Pulmonary Hypertension Association Registry

Pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH) is a chronic, progressive, and debilitating disease associated with increased cardiopulmonary morbidity and mortality. Current knowledge is derived from registries and landmark clinical trials, although concern exists that minorities are underrepresented in these datasets, and it remains unknown if there are intrinsic differences in minorities and disadvantaged groups. The Pulmonary Hypertension Association Registry offers a unique opportunity for the understanding of the unique social background of minorities in the United States because it routinely collects information related to socioeconomic factors such as annual income and health care insurance. Furthermore, representation of Hispanic patients may be slightly higher than in other US-based registries. In this review, we discuss the interplay between biologic, socioeconomic, and racial or ethnic factors in PAH, with special emphasis on the Hispanic population. We describe the unique socioeconomic profile of Hispanic individuals and propose next steps to improve representation and fight inequality for Hispanic patients with PAH.