RESEARCH ARTICLE
Cardiovascular Disease in Blacks with HIV/AIDS in the United States: A Systematic Review of the Literature
Christine U Oramasionwu*, 1, 3, 5, Jonathan M Hunter 2, Carolyn M Brown 3, Gene D Morse 4, Kenneth A Lawson 3, Jim M Koeller 5, Christopher R Frei 3, 5
Article Information
Identifiers and Pagination:
Year: 2012Volume: 6
First Page: 29
Last Page: 35
Publisher ID: TOAIDJ-6-29
DOI: 10.2174/1874613601206010029
Article History:
Received Date: 4/10/2011Revision Received Date: 16/11/2011
Acceptance Date: 13/1/2012
Electronic publication date: 26/4/2012
Collection year: 2012

open-access license: This is an open access article licensed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution Non-Commercial License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/3.0/) which permits unrestricted, non-commercial use, distribution and reproduction in any medium, provided the work is properly cited.
Abstract
Objectives:
Blacks in the United States bear a disproportionate burden of Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV)/Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome (AIDS) and cardiovascular disease (CVD). It has been demonstrated that HIV/AIDS itself and HIV/AIDS-related therapies may predispose patients to early onset of CVD. It is also possible that Black patients may be at greater risk for this interaction. Thus, the objective of this literature review was to identify and critically evaluate disparities in CVD between Black and White patients with HIV/AIDS.
Design:
A MEDLINE search (January 1, 1950 to May 31, 2010) was performed to identify original research articles published in the English language. The search was limited to articles that evaluated race-based disparities for CVD among patients with HIV/AIDS.
Results:
Of the five publications included in this review, a CVD diagnosis was the primary focus for only three of the studies and was a secondary objective for the remaining two studies. Two studies concluded that Blacks were more likely than Whites to have a CVD diagnosis at time of hospital admission, whereas, the other three studies did not detect any race-based disparities.
Conclusions:
Few studies have addressed the issue of Black race, HIV/AIDS, and CVD, highlighting the need for future research in this area.