Racial Disparities Identified for Time to Diagnosis of Huntington Disease

FRIDAY, July 26, 2024 (HealthDay News) — Black individuals are diagnosed with Huntington disease (HD) at least one year later than White individuals, according to a study published online June 21 in Neurology: Clinical Practice.

Adys Mendizabal, M.D., from the University of California, Los Angeles, and colleagues examined sociodemographic factors associated with disparities in time from symptom onset to time to diagnosis (TTD) of HD using the global clinical research platform ENROLL-HD periodic data set 5 for gene-positive individuals (CAG repeats 36+) in the North America region.

The analyses included 4,717 gene-positive participants: 89.5, 3.4, and 2.3 percent identified as White, Hispanic or Latino, and African American/Black, respectively. The researchers found that the average TTD was 3.78 years. Black participants were diagnosed with HD one year later than White participants after adjustment for clinical and sociodemographic variables. Psychiatric symptoms as initial HD symptom, unemployment during baseline ENROLL visit, and higher educational attainment were additional factors associated with later diagnosis. Similar findings were seen in sensitivity analysis of gene-positive participants with a total motor score of 10 or higher and for those with 40+ CAG repeats.

“To improve early disease identification and diagnosis, we must understand the barriers to an early diagnosis and access to specialized HD care for minority groups,” the authors write.

One author disclosed ties to Neurocrine Biosciences.

Abstract/Full Text