CVD-Related Death Rates Are Declining

Cardiovascular disease (CVD)-related death rates have decreased over the past 30 years, according to a recent study presented at the American Heart Association’s Epidemiology, Prevention, Lifestyle & Cardiometabolic Health Conference 2021.

For their study, the researchers examined mortality data from the National Center for Health Statistics from 1980 through 2014, and used longitudinal data clustering analysis to group trajectories of mortality into 3 categories: persistently high mortality, intermediate mortality, and low mortality.

They used information from 5 databases to examine social characteristics linked to mortality rates. They found that counties with the highest mortality rates had higher proportions of non-white residents, higher proportions of residents who did not complete high school, and higher rates of violent crime.

“Factors such as education level and violent crime rates aren’t typically considered modifiable risk factors for cardiovascular disease by public health agencies. Yet, we found that they both influenced long-term health outcomes even when adjusting for traditional cardiovascular health risk factors such as smoking rates, access to physical activities and obesity. Social and health risk factors aligned significantly. Communities with significant socioeconomic and social distress consistently had worse health metrics as well; they were inextricable,” they said. “Our study’s findings highlight the need to target both social and health behavior-based risk factors to help reduce the existing disparities in cardiovascular health across counties.”

—Michael Potts

Reference:

Rao S, Hughes AE, Ayers C, et al. U.S. CVD death rate drops overall, county-level data signals ongoing regional disparities. Presented at: American Heart Association’s Epidemiology, Prevention, Lifestyle & Cardiometabolic Health Conference 2021; May 20-21, 2021; Dallas, Texas. Accessed May 20, 2021. https://newsroom.heart.org/news/u-s-cvd-death-rate-drops-overall-county-level-data-signals-ongoing-regional-disparities