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The following is a summary of “Trends in Cardiovascular Disease Mortality by County‐Level Social Vulnerability Index in the United States,” published in the October 2023 issue of Cardiology by Terry et al.

This study scrutinized cardiovascular mortality (CVM) trends in the United States, focusing on regions with increased social vulnerability to discern if the overall decline in CVM rates extended uniformly across all areas.

The researchers categorized counties into five SVI groups by analyzing county-level age-adjusted CVM rates (aa-CVM) from 2000 to 2019 linked with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Social Vulnerability Index (SVI-2010). These groups were stratified based on SVI scores, ranging from least to most vulnerable. The study group examined the relative change in aa-CVM rates between two time frames, 2000 to 2003 and 2016 to 2019, across these SVI groups. Using adjusted linear regression, the investigators explored the correlation between higher SVI and improvements in temporal aa-CVM rates. 

Moreover, they analyzed the temporal changes in aa-CVM rates concerning race, sex, and geographic location. The median aa-CVM rate was 272.6 per 100,000 individuals. Observed aa-CVM rates were notably higher in men compared to women and among Black residents compared to White residents. Counties categorized in SVI group V exhibited significantly higher aa-CVM rates than those in SVI group I. The relative reduction in CVM rates was notably higher in counties categorized as SVI group I compared to SVI group V. Additionally, after adjusting for multiple factors, a higher SVI index was linked to lower relative improvement in age-adjusted CVM rates.

In conclusion, socially disadvantaged counties across the United States presented higher aa-CVM rates, and the progress in decreasing these rates over the past two decades was less pronounced in these regions. These findings suggest that social vulnerability may contribute to disparities in cardiovascular health outcomes and highlight the need for targeted interventions to address these disparities.

Source: ahajournals.org/doi/10.1161/JAHA.123.030290