ABSTRACT
Background: The mortality from COVID-19 alone cannot account for the impact of the pandemic. Cardiovascular disease (CVD) mortality has increased disproportionately in specific racial/ethnic populations. Objective: This study aimed to characterize how the COVID-19 pandemic impacted the association between CVD mortality and social and demographic factors as characterized by the Social Vulnerability Index (SVI). Methods: Medical Examiner Case Archive of Cook County, Illinois was utilized to identify CVD deaths in 2019 (pre-pandemic) and 2020 (pandemic). Rate ratios (RRs) were used to compare age-adjusted mortality rates (AAMRs). Addresses of deaths were geocoded to Chicago Community Areas. The Spearman's rank correlation coefficient (ρ) test was used to identify the association between SVI and CVD mortality. Results: AAMRs of CVD deaths significantly increased among non-Hispanic Black individuals (AAMRR, 1.1; 95 % CI, 1.1-1.2) and Hispanic individuals (AAMRR, 1.8; 95 % CI, 1.5-2.1) from 2019 to 2020. Among non-Hispanic White individuals, the AAMR did not significantly increase (AAMRR, 1.0; 95 % CI, 0.9-1.1). A significant positive association was observed between SVI and the percentage of non-Hispanic Black residents (ρ = 0.45; P < 0.05), while the inverse was observed with the percentage of non-Hispanic White residents (ρ = -0.77; P < 0.05). A significant positive association between SVI and CVD mortality rate increased (ρ = 0.24 and 0.28; P < 0.05). Conclusions: Significant association between SVI and CVD mortality was strengthened from 2019 to 2020, and CVD mortality increased among non-Hispanic Black and Hispanic populations. These findings demonstrate that the COVID-19 pandemic has led to an exacerbation of health inequities among different racial/ethnic populations resulting in increased CVD mortality.
ABSTRACT
Introduction. In many countries around the world, about 63% of deaths are caused by chronic noncommunicable diseases. Obesity is one of the factors in the development of a number of noncommunicable diseases (cardiovascular, diabetes, etc.). It is the most common metabolic disease among people of all ages in all countries. The WHO (the World Health Organization) recognized obesity as a new non-communicable «epidemic» of our time. Despite the fact, that noncommunicable diseases kill adults more frequently, the predisposition to risk factors begins in childhood and its negative consequences accumulate throughout the lifespan. That is why regular monitoring of the prevalence of overweight and obesity among children and adolescents is relevant and appropriate. Materials and methods. 340 schoolchildren, including 196 boys aged 8-16 and 144 girls aged 8-15 research took part in the research. Analysis of the prevalence of overweight and obesity among schoolchildren was carried out using anthropometric data (body weight and height) and the calculation of the body mass index, taking into account the standards of the percentiles. Results and conclusions. The results of the study during 2017-2020 showed that a higher prevalence of overweight and obesity was observed in boys aged 8-12 years and girls aged 8-11 years. The predominance of overweight and obese people among girls or boys cannot be stated unequivocally, because of a disproportion throughout the years. In 2017 and 2020, a higher percentage of overweight people was observed among boys, in 2018-2019 - among girls. The prevalence of obesity in 2017-2018 was higher among girls, in 2019-2020, respectively, among boys. It was also found that the percentage of obese and overweight schoolchildren during the study period was high. In 2020 there was a significant increase of obese and overweight schoolchildren in comparison with previous years.