The Relationship Between the Age of First Acute Coronary Syndrome Episode and Internal Migration

It has been shown that migration has an increasing effect on the risk of cardiovascular events. However, these studies are mostly related to international migration. There are very few studies on the relationship between internal migration and cardiovascular disease. The aim of the current study was to evaluate the effect of internal migration on the age of the first acute coronary syndrome episode.

The study was designed as a cross-sectional, observational study that enrolled 1261 consecutive patients diagnosed with the first episode of acute coronary syndrome between 2014 and 2020. Patients born and living in Antalya were included in the nonimmigrated group, and those born in another city in Türkiye and settled to live in Antalya were included in the immigrated group. The effect of internal migration and other risk factors on the age of the first acute coronary syndrome was calculated by regression analysis.

Immigrants were younger than nonimmigrants at the time of acute coronary syndrome (55.4 ± 10.7 years vs. 60.0 ± 13.36 years, P < 0.001). Linear regression analysis showed that migration is an independent risk factor for acute coronary syndrome at an earlier age (-2.07, P < 0.001). The socioeconomic status of the migrant group was not lower than the nonimmigrant group.

Internal migration may be a risk factor associated with acute coronary syndrome at an earlier age when compared to nonimmigrants. This finding needs to be tested in multicenter epidemiological studies.