Di Zhao, et al. - In this cohort study of 3832 blacks and 11 237 whites participating in the Atherosclerosis Risk in Communities Study (ARIC), researchers compared the lifetime cumulative risk of sudden cardiac death (SCD) among blacks and whites, as well as assessed the risk factors that could explain racial differences in SCD risk in the general population. They used competing risk models to estimate the cumulative incidence. Demographic and socioeconomic factors, cardiovascular risk factors, presence of coronary heart disease, and electrocardiographic parameters as timevarying factors were included as potential mediators. Blacks with mean (SD) age of 53.6 (5.8) years and whites with mean (SD) age of 54.4 (5.7) years were analyzed. SCD occurred in 215 blacks and 332 whites during 27.4 years of follow-up. At age 85 years, the lifetime cumulative incidence of SCD was estimated to be 9.6, 6.6, 6.5, and 2.3% for black men, black women, white men, and white women, respectively. A much higher risk for SCD was observed in blacks vs whites, particularly among women. In addition, ≈65% of the race difference in SCD was explained by income, education, and traditional risk factors.