To determine factors that explain the higher Black:White cardiovascular disease (CVD) mortality rates among US adults.
We analyzed data from the Reasons for Geographic and Racial Differences in ...Stroke study from 2003 to 2017 to estimate Black:White hazard ratios (HRs) for CVD mortality within subgroups younger than 65 years and aged 65 years or older.
Among 29 054 participants, 41.0% who were Black and 54.9% who were women, 1549 CVD deaths occurred. Among participants younger than 65 years, the demographic-adjusted Black:White CVD mortality HR was 2.23 (95% confidence interval CI = 1.87, 2.65) and 1.21 (95% CI = 1.00, 1.47) after full adjustment. Among participants aged 65 years or older, the demographic-adjusted Black:White CVD mortality HR was 1.58 (95% CI = 1.39, 1.79) and 1.12 (95% CI = 0.97, 1.29) after full adjustment. When we used mediation analysis, socioeconomic status explained 21.2% (95% CI = 13.6%, 31.4%) and 38.0% (95% CI = 20.9%, 61.7%) of the Black:White CVD mortality risk difference among participants younger than 65 years and aged 65 years or older, respectively. CVD risk factors explained 56.6% (95% CI = 42.0%, 77.2%) and 41.3% (95% CI = 22.9%, 65.3%) of the Black:White CVD mortality difference for participants younger than 65 years and aged 65 years or older, respectively.
The higher Black:White CVD mortality risk is primarily explained by racial differences in socioeconomic status and CVD risk factors.
Safford talks about a study by Roumie et al comparing the risk of a composite outcome of acute myocardial infarction, stroke, or death in veterans with type 2 diabetes in whom metformin did not ...control their condition and who added either a sulfonylurea or insulin to their treatment regimen. Although insulin resistance has been linked to cancer death, it is not clear whether exogenous insulin or unmeasured confounders such as the degree of insulin resistance could be responsible for the findings. The relative risks associated with insulin resistance for some cancers such as colon cancer are reportedly higher than the relative hazard of 1.25 cited in the unmeasured confounder imbalance analysis presented by Roumie et al.
To examine the association of serum inflammatory markers (erythrocyte sedimentation rate (ESR) and C-reactive protein (CRP)) and serum lipid measures (low-density lipoprotein (LDL)- and high-density ...lipoprotein (HDL)-cholesterol) with risk of myocardial infarction (MI) and ischaemic stroke (IS) among rheumatoid arthritis (RA) patients.
We conducted a retrospective cohort study using 2005-2010 data from a US commercial health plan. Eligible patients had two or more physician diagnoses of RA during a baseline period of at least 180 days with continuous medical and pharmacy coverage. We computed age-adjusted incidence rates of MI and IS, and used spline regression to assess non-linear associations and Cox-regression to quantify the independent association between the laboratory values and the outcomes.
We identified 44 418 eligible RA patients (mean age 49 years; 76% women). CRP>10 mg/L compared with <1 mg/L was associated with increased MI risk (HR 2.12; 95% CI 1.02 to 4.38). ESR>42 mm/h compared with <14 mm/h was associated with increased risk of MI (HR 2.53; 95% CI 1.48 to 4.31) and IS (HR 2.51; 95% CI 1.33 to 4.75) risk. HDL-cholesterol ≥60 mg/dL (1.6 mmol/L) compared with <40 mg/dL (1.0 mmol/L) was associated with reduced MI risk (HR 0.37; 0.21 to 0.66). The association between LDL and MI was not linear; the lowest risk was observed among patients with LDL between 70 mg/L (1.8 mmol/L) and 100 mg/L (2.6 mmol/L). We did not observe a significant association between LDL and IS.
This study provides evidence supporting the hypothesis that RA-related systemic inflammation plays a role in determining cardiovascular risk and a complex relationship between LDL and cardiovascular risk.
BACKGROUNDPlasma lipids are risk factors for coronary heart disease (CHD) in part because of race-specific associations of lipids with CHD. OBJECTIVESThe purpose of this study was to understand why ...CHD risk equations underperform in Black adults. METHODSBetween 2003 and 2007, the REGARDS (REasons for Geographic and Racial Differences in Stroke) cohort recruited 30,239 Black and White individuals aged ≥45 years from the contiguous United States. We used Cox regression models adjusted for clinical and behavioral risk factors to estimate the race-specific hazard of plasma lipid levels with incident CHD (myocardial infarction or CHD death). RESULTSAmong 23,901 CHD-free participants (57.8% White and 58.4% women, mean age 64 ± 9 years) over a median 10 years of follow-up, 664 and 951 CHD events occurred among Black and White adults, respectively. Low-density lipoprotein cholesterol and triglycerides were associated with increased risk of CHD in both races (P interaction by race >0.10). For sex-specific clinical HDL-C categories: low HDL-C was associated with increased CHD risk in White (HR: 1.22; 95% CI: 1.05-1.43) but not in Black (HR: 0.94; 95% CI: 0.78-1.14) adults (P interaction by race = 0.08); high HDL-C was not associated with decreased CHD events in either race (HR: 0.96; 95% CI: 0.79-1.16 for White participants and HR: 0.91; 95% CI: 0.74-1.12 for Black adults). CONCLUSIONSLow-density lipoprotein cholesterol and triglycerides modestly predicted CHD risk in Black and White adults. Low HDL-C was associated with increased CHD risk in White but not Black adults, and high HDL-C was not protective in either group. Current high-density lipoprotein cholesterol-based risk calculations could lead to inaccurate risk assessment in Black adults.
Public health interventions such as social distancing and mask wearing decrease the incidence of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) infection, but it is unclear whether they ...decrease the viral load of infected patients and whether changes in viral load impact mortality from coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19). We evaluated 6923 patients with COVID-19 at six New York City hospitals from March 15-May 14, 2020, corresponding with the implementation of public health interventions in March. We assessed changes in cycle threshold (CT) values from reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction tests and in-hospital mortality and modeled the impact of viral load on mortality. Mean CT values increased between March and May, with the proportion of patients with high viral load decreasing from 47.7% to 7.8%. In-hospital mortality increased from 14.9% in March to 28.4% in early April, and then decreased to 8.7% by May. Patients with high viral loads had increased mortality compared to those with low viral loads (adjusted odds ratio 2.34). If viral load had not declined, an estimated 69 additional deaths would have occurred (5.8% higher mortality). SARS-CoV-2 viral load steadily declined among hospitalized patients in the setting of public health interventions, and this correlated with decreases in mortality.
Celotno besedilo
Dostopno za:
DOBA, IZUM, KILJ, NUK, PILJ, PNG, SAZU, SIK, UILJ, UKNU, UL, UM, UPUK
Objective:
While black‐white and regional disparities in U.S. stroke mortality rates are well documented, the contribution of disparities in stroke incidence is unknown. We provide national estimates ...of stroke incidence by race and region, contrasting these to publicly available stroke mortality data.
Methods:
This analysis included 27,744 men and women without prevalent stroke (40.4% black), aged ≥45 years from the REasons for Geographic And Racial Differences in Stroke (REGARDS) national cohort study, enrolled 2003–2007. Incident stroke was defined as first occurrence of stroke over 4.4 years of follow‐up. Age‐sex–adjusted stroke mortality rates were calculated using data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) Wide‐Ranging Online Data for Epidemiological Research (WONDER) System.
Results:
There were 460 incident strokes over 113,469 person‐years of follow‐up. Relative to the rest of the United States, incidence rate ratios (IRRs) of stroke in the southeastern stroke belt and stroke buckle were 1.06 (95% confidence interval CI, 0.87–1.29) and 1.19 (95% CI, 0.96–1.47), respectively. The age‐sex–adjusted black/white IRRblack was 1.51 (95% CI, 1.26–1.81), but for ages 45–54 years the IRRblack was 4.02 (95% CI, 1.23–13.11) while for ages 85+ it was 0.86 (95% CI, 0.33–2.20). Generally, the IRRsblack were less than the mortality rate ratios (MRRs) across age groups; however, only in ages 55–64 years and 65–74 years did the 95% CIs of IRRsblack not include the MRRblack. The MRRs for regions were within 95% CIs for IRRs.
Interpretation:
National patterns of black‐white and regional differences in stroke incidence are similar to those for stroke mortality; however, the magnitude of differences in incidence appear smaller. ANN NEUROL 2011
CONTEXT It is unknown whether long-standing disparities in incidence of coronary heart disease (CHD) among US blacks and whites persist. OBJECTIVE To examine incident CHD by black and white race and ...by sex. DESIGN, SETTING, AND PARTICIPANTS Prospective cohort study of 24 443 participants without CHD at baseline from the Reasons for Geographic and Racial Differences in Stroke (REGARDS) cohort, who resided in the continental United States and were enrolled between 2003 and 2007 with follow-up through December 31, 2009. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURE Expert-adjudicated total (fatal and nonfatal) CHD, fatal CHD, and nonfatal CHD (definite or probable myocardial infarction MI; very small non–ST-elevation MI NSTEMI had peak troponin level <0.5 μg/L). RESULTS Over a mean (SD) of 4.2 (1.5) years of follow-up, 659 incident CHD events occurred (153 in black men, 138 in black women, 254 in white men, and 114 in white women). Among men, the age-standardized incidence rate per 1000 person-years for total CHD was 9.0 (95% CI, 7.5-10.8) for blacks vs 8.1 (95% CI, 6.9-9.4) for whites; fatal CHD: 4.0 (95% CI, 2.9-5.3) vs 1.9 (95% CI, 1.4-2.6), respectively; and nonfatal CHD: 4.9 (95% CI, 3.8-6.2) vs 6.2 (95% CI, 5.2-7.4). Among women, the age-standardized incidence rate per 1000 person-years for total CHD was 5.0 (95% CI, 4.2-6.1) for blacks vs 3.4 (95% CI, 2.8-4.2) for whites; fatal CHD: 2.0 (95% CI, 1.5-2.7) vs 1.0 (95% CI, 0.7-1.5), respectively; and nonfatal CHD: 2.8 (95% CI, 2.2-3.7) vs 2.2 (95% CI, 1.7-2.9). Age- and region-adjusted hazard ratios for fatal CHD among blacks vs whites was near 2.0 for both men and women and became statistically nonsignificant after multivariable adjustment. The multivariable-adjusted hazard ratio for incident nonfatal CHD for blacks vs whites was 0.68 (95% CI, 0.51-0.91) for men and 0.81 (95% CI, 0.58-1.15) for women. Of the 444 nonfatal CHD events, 139 participants (31.3%) had very small NSTEMIs. CONCLUSIONS The higher risk of fatal CHD among blacks compared with whites was associated with cardiovascular disease risk factor burden. These relationships may differ by sex.
Allostatic load (AL) is the physiologic "wear and tear" on the body from stress. Yet, despite stress being implicated in the development heart failure (HF), it is unknown whether AL is associated ...with incident HF events.
We examined 16,765 participants without HF at baseline from the REasons for Geographic and Racial Differences in Stroke (REGARDS) cohort. The main exposure was AL score quartile. AL was determined according to 11 physiologic parameters, whereby each parameter was assigned points (0-3) based on quartiles within the sample, and points were summed to create a total AL score ranging from 0-33. The outcome was incident HF event. We examined the association between AL quartile (Q1-Q4) and incident HF events using Cox proportional hazards models, adjusted for demographics, socioeconomic factors, and lifestyle.
The mean age was 64 ± 9.6 years, 61.5% were women, and 38.7% were Black participants. Over a median follow up of 11.4 years, we observed 750 incident HF events (635 HF hospitalizations and 115 HF deaths). Compared to the lowest AL quartile (Q1), the fully adjusted hazards of an incident HF event increased in a graded fashion: Q2 HR 1.49 95% CI 1.12-1.98; Q3 HR 2.47 95% CI 1.89-3.23; Q4 HR 4.28 95% CI 3.28-5.59. The HRs for incident HF event in the fully adjusted model that also adjusted for CAD were attenuated, but remained significant and increased in a similar, graded fashion by AL quartile. There was a significant age interaction (p-for-interaction < 0.001), whereby the associations were observed across each age stratum, but the HRs were highest among those aged < 65 years.
AL was associated with incident HF events, suggesting that AL could be an important risk factor and potential target for future interventions to prevent HF.
Antihypertensive medication and low systolic blood pressure (BP) and diastolic BP have been associated with an increased falls risk in some studies. Many older adults have indicators of frailty, ...which may increase their risk for falls. We contrasted the association of systolic BP, diastolic BP, number of antihypertensive medication classes taken, and indicators of frailty with risk for serious fall injuries among 5236 REGARDS study (Reasons for Geographic and Racial Difference in Stroke) participants ≥65 years taking antihypertensive medication at baseline with Medicare fee-for-service coverage. Systolic BP and diastolic BP were measured, and antihypertensive medication classes being taken assessed through a pill bottle review during a study visit. Indicators of frailty included low body mass index, cognitive impairment, depressive symptoms, exhaustion, impaired mobility, and history of falls. Serious fall injuries were defined as fall-related fractures, brain injuries, or joint dislocations using Medicare claims through December 31, 2014. Over a median of 6.4 years, 802 (15.3%) participants had a serious fall injury. The multivariable-adjusted hazard ratio for a serious fall injury among participants with 1, 2, or ≥3 indicators of frailty versus no frailty indicators was 1.18 (95% confidence interval, 0.99–1.40), 1.49 (95% confidence interval, 1.19–1.87), and 2.04 (95% confidence interval, 1.56–2.67), respectively. Systolic BP, diastolic BP, and number of antihypertensive medication classes being taken at baseline were not associated with risk for serious fall injuries after multivariable adjustment. In conclusion, indicators of frailty, but not BP or number of antihypertensive medication classes, were associated with increased risk for serious fall injuries among older adults taking antihypertensive medication.
Defining Sepsis Mortality Clusters in the United States Moore, Justin Xavier; Donnelly, John P; Griffin, Russell ...
Critical care medicine,
2016-July, 2016-Jul, 2016-07-00, 20160701, Letnik:
44, Številka:
7
Journal Article
Recenzirano
Odprti dostop
OBJECTIVES:In the United States, sepsis is a major public health problem accounting for over 200,000 annual deaths. The aims of this study were to identify U.S. counties with high sepsis mortality ...and to assess the community characteristics associated with increased sepsis mortality.
DESIGN:We performed a descriptive analysis of 2003 through 2012 Compressed Mortality File data. We defined sepsis deaths as deaths associated with an infection, classified according to the International Classification of Diseases, 10th Version.
SETTING:Three thousand one hundred and eight counties in the contiguous U.S. counties, excluding Hawaii and Alaska.
MEASUREMENTS AND MAIN RESULTS:Using geospatial autocorrelation methods, we defined county-level sepsis mortality as strongly clustered, moderately clustered, and nonclustered. We approximated the mean crude, age-adjusted, and community-adjusted sepsis mortality rates nationally and for clustering groups. We contrasted demographic and community characteristics between clustering groups. We performed logistic regression for the association between strongly clustered counties and community characteristics. Among 3,108 U.S. counties, the age-adjusted sepsis mortality rate was 59.6 deaths per 100,000 persons (95% CI, 58.9–60.4). Sepsis mortality was higher in the Southern U.S. and clustered in three major regionsMississippi Valley, Middle Georgia, and Central Appalachia. Among 161 (5.2%) strongly clustered counties, age-adjusted sepsis mortality was 93.1 deaths per 100,000 persons (95% CI, 90.5–95.7). Strongly clustered sepsis counties were more likely to be located in the south (92.6%; p < 0.001), exhibit lower education, higher impoverished population, without medical insurance, higher medically uninsured rates, and had higher unemployment rates (p < 0.001).
CONCLUSIONS:Sepsis mortality is higher in the Southern United States, with three regional clusters“Mississippi Valley,” “Middle Georgia,” and “Central Appalachia”Regions of high sepsis mortality are characterized by lower education, income, employment, and insurance coverage.
PDF
