Cardiovascular events during general elections in Bayamon, Puerto Rico

Area of Science:

• Cardiology
• Public Health
• Psychosomatic Medicine

Background:

• Emotional stress is a known trigger for acute coronary events.
• The impact of election-related emotional responses on cardiovascular health is not well understood.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate the association between emotional stress from general elections and cardiovascular events in Puerto Rico.
• To compare hospital admission rates for cardiovascular events during election periods versus non-election periods.

Main Methods:

• Retrospective review of patient records at HIMA San Pablo Hospital (HIMASP) and Ramon Ruiz Arnau University Hospital (HURRA).
• Identification of patients admitted with specific ICD-9 codes for acute coronary events (410, 411, 413) during election and non-election periods.
• Statistical comparison of admission rates between election and non-election years.

Main Results:

• Cardiovascular events represented 3.24% of election-year admissions versus 5.51% in non-election years at HURRA (p=0.036).
• At HIMASP, cardiovascular events accounted for 2.86% of election-year admissions compared to 3.27% in non-election years (not statistically significant).

Conclusions:

• A trend towards lower cardiovascular event admission rates was observed during general elections in both hospitals.
• Statistical significance was reached at HURRA, indicating a potential protective effect of election periods on cardiovascular events in this population.
• Further research is needed to understand the underlying mechanisms and applicability to other populations.