2015 APHA Annual Meeting & Expo

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331179
A Spatial Analysis of Cardiovascular Disease in Texas


Wednesday, November 4, 2015

Elizabeth Wachira, RN, BSN, MPH, CHES, CPH, Health Studies, Texas Woman's University, Denton, TX
Kimberly Parker, PhD, MPH, MCHES, Department of Health Studies, Texas Woman's University, Denton, TX
In the United States, 1 in every 4 deaths is due to heart disease. For Texas, cardiovascular disease (CVD) accounts for nearly three of every ten deaths. While CVD affects all races and ethnicities, low-income minority groups have much higher risk and mortality rates but the reasons remain unclear. This paper examines how socioeconomic status, access to care, built environment, and poverty impact CVD mortality in Texas counties. A vulnerability index, including income, education, poverty, health care access and built environment, explained 57% of spatial variation in CVD mortality. Spatial analysis revealed that Texas counties with a high vulnerability index have higher mortality rates and must be prioritized for interventions. These results suggest that while behavioral factors are important, area factors must also be addressed to ensure more effective intervention.

Learning Areas:

Epidemiology
Planning of health education strategies, interventions, and programs
Program planning
Public health or related public policy

Learning Objectives:
Analyze the burden of Cardiovascular disease mortality using a vulnerability index. Discuss factors Demonstrate how a vulnerability index can be used to predict disease mortality. Discuss how a vulnerability index can be used to prioritize interventions based on area factors.

Keyword(s): Community Health Planning, Epidemiology

Presenting author's disclosure statement:

Qualified on the content I am responsible for because: As a Doctoral student, I have focused my research on understanding and measuring health disparities. Specifically, my interest is in cardiovascular disease prevention and promotion. In studying the factors leading to high disparities in cardiovascular disease mortality, I focus on areal factors such as poverty and access to care in explaining these variations in mortality rates. The literature review findings have guided these exploration and narrowing of focus to highlight the importance of geographic analysis.
Any relevant financial relationships? No

I agree to comply with the American Public Health Association Conflict of Interest and Commercial Support Guidelines, and to disclose to the participants any off-label or experimental uses of a commercial product or service discussed in my presentation.

Back to: 5007.0: Epidemiology/Biostatistics and Health in all Policies Poster Session