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Cardiovascular events during general elections in Bayamon, Puerto Rico

Arnaldo E Pérez-Mercado1, Gerónimo Maldonado-Martínez, José Rivera del Rio

  • 1Internal Medicine Department, Universidad Central del Caribe, School of Medicine, Call Box 60-327, Bayamón, PR 00960-6032.

Boletin De La Asociacion Medica De Puerto Rico
|July 24, 2013
PubMed

Insights

Emotional stress from elections did not increase cardiovascular events in Puerto Rico. Hospital admissions for cardiac events were lower during election periods, particularly at one hospital, suggesting a protective effect.

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.
Abstract

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