Is there a link between cardiovascular mortality and economic fluctuations?

Area of Science:

• Public Health
• Epidemiology
• Economics

Background:

• Cardiovascular disease (CVD) is a leading global cause of death.
• Unemployment is a potential risk factor influencing CVD.
• Understanding the link between unemployment and CVD is crucial for public health.

Purpose of the Study:

• To estimate the association between unemployment rates and mortality from CVD and coronary heart disease (CHD).
• To assess the modifying effect of unemployment protection on these associations.
• To determine the impact of GDP and the Great Recession on heart disease mortality.

Main Methods:

• Utilized time-series data from 32 countries (1960-2015).
• Employed first-difference modeling due to non-cointegrated data.
• Conducted separate analyses for five welfare state regimes and country-specific ARIMA models.

Main Results:

• The effect of unemployment and GDP on CVD and CHD mortality was statistically insignificant.
• No significant impact was found across different age groups, sexes, or welfare state regimes.
• An interaction term for the Great Recession's effect on unemployment and heart disease mortality was also insignificant.

Conclusions:

• This study found no statistically significant association between unemployment rates and cardiovascular or coronary heart disease mortality.
• Economic factors like GDP and major economic events like the Great Recession did not demonstrate a significant impact on heart disease mortality in the studied countries.
• The degree of unemployment protection did not significantly modify the relationship between unemployment and heart disease mortality.