Racial Disparities in Mortality Among American Film Celebrities: A Wikipedia-Based Retrospective Cohort Study.

Dustin Duncan,Alyssa Falise,Hannah Speaks,Adam Carrico,Kaitlin Grosgebauer

doi:10.2196/13871

Abstract

BackgroundIn the United States, well-documented racial disparities in health outcomes are frequently attributed to racial bias and socioeconomic inequalities. However, it remains unknown whether racial disparities in mortality persist among those with higher socioeconomic status (SES) and occupational prestige.ObjectiveAs the celebrity population is generally characterized by high levels of SES and occupational prestige, this study aimed to examine survival differences between black and white film celebrities.MethodsUsing a Web-based, open-source encyclopedia (ie, Wikipedia), data for 5829 entries of randomly selected American film actors and actresses born between 1900 and 2000 were extracted. A Kaplan-Meier survival curve was conducted using 4356 entries to compare the difference in survival by race. A Cox semiparametric regression analysis examined whether adjusting for year of birth, gender, and cause of death influenced differences in survival by race.ResultsMost celebrities were non-Hispanic white (3847/4352, 88.4%), male (3565/4352, 81.9%), and born in the United States (4187/4352, 96.2%). Mean age at death for black celebrities (64.1; 95% CI 60.6-67.5 years) was 6.4 years shorter than that for white celebrities (70.5; 95% CI 69.6-71.4 years; P<.001). Black celebrities had a faster all-cause mortality rate using Kaplan-Meier survival function estimates and a log-rank test. However, in a Cox semiparametric regression, there was no longer a significant difference in survival times between black and white celebrities (hazard ratio 1.07; 95% CI 0.87-1.31).ConclusionsThere is some evidence that racial disparities in all-cause mortality may persist at higher levels of SES, but this association was no longer significant in adjusted analyses. Further research is needed to examine if racial disparities in mortality are diminished at higher levels of SES among more representative populations.

Highlights

The Heckler Report, published in 1985, was the first to report statistical differences in health and mortality among races in the United States after the Civil Rights Act in 1964 [1]
There is some evidence that racial disparities in all-cause mortality may persist at higher levels of socioeconomic status (SES), but this association was no longer significant in adjusted analyses
Using the Kaplan-Meier function to compare survival rates between each race with celebrities’ genders combined (Figure 2), there was a significant difference between white and black actors when using a log-rank test for equality for each race group (P

Summary

Introduction

The Heckler Report, published in 1985, was the first to report statistical differences in health and mortality among races in the United States after the Civil Rights Act in 1964 [1]. Blacks (national born and immigrants) make up a rising 13% of the US population [5]; yet, they experience the highest mortality rates for 8 of the 10 most common causes of death in the United States. Socioeconomic status (SES), as defined by income, education, occupation, and social status, is a product of policy and culture often studied in context with its effect on health [3,6,7,8]. In the United States, well-documented racial disparities in health outcomes are frequently attributed to racial bias and socioeconomic inequalities. It remains unknown whether racial disparities in mortality persist among those with higher socioeconomic status (SES) and occupational prestige

Methods

Results

Conclusion