Crisis económico-financieras en la Argentina: ¿un nuevo factor de riesgo de mortalidad cardiovascular?;
Economic and Financial Crisis in Argentina: A Novel Risk Factor for Cardiovascular Mortality?

IntroducciónEn estudios clínicos y experimentales se ha documentado la relación entre el impacto generado por diversas situaciones traumáticas, como guerras, ataques terroristas y desastres naturales, y la mortalidad en diferentes regiones del mundo y los resultados de un estudio reciente muestran que las crisis financieras, en ausencia de desastres naturales o guerras, podrían tener un impacto negativo sobre la mortalidad cardiovascular. La experiencia actual sugiere que las crisis del sistema financiero podrían tener una influencia  importante sobre la salud.ObjetivosDescribir las tendencias de las tasas de mortalidad cardiovascular (TMCV) en la Argentina entre los años 1995 y 2005 y explorar si los cambios en ellas coinciden temporalmente con cambios en las tendencias del Producto Interno Bruto (PIB) como indicador de crisis económico-financieras.resumen completo en pdf

BackgroundThe relationship between the impact generated by diversetraumatic situations as wars, terrorist attacks and naturaldisasters with mortality in different regions of the worldhas been documented in clinical and experimental studies. Arecent study showed that, in the absence of natural disastersor wars, financial crises might have a negative impact on cardiovascularmortality. The current experience suggests thatfinancial crises could have a significant influence on health.ObjectivesTo describe the trends in cardiovascular mortality rates(CVMR) in Argentina between 1995 and 2005, and to exploreif there is a close temporal relationship with the changes intrends of the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) as indicator ofeconomic and financial crisis.Material and MethodsThe annual CVMR per 100,000 persons was calculated usingthe information obtained from the database of the Ministryof Health (9th and 10th International Classification of Diseases).The following causes of death were considered: heartfailure (HF), acute myocardial infarction (AMI), chronic coronaryartery disease (CAD) and stroke (CVA). The populationestimates used as the denominator were obtained from theNational Institute of Statistics and Censuses. Two economiccrises were identified: the Southeast Asia crisis (1998-1999)and the end of the convertibility system (2001-2002). Joinpointmodels were used to evaluate changes in trends.ResultsGDP showed an increasing trend (slope = 17.18) from1995 to 1998, which decreased in the period 1998-2002(slope = ‑12.90) and increased from 2002 to 2005 (slope =19.88); CVMR decreased by 24.72% (from 474.9 to 357.5per 100,000). The joinpoint model identified three slopes inCVMR: from 1995 to 1997 (‑17.94), a descending slope until2002 (‑6.8) and an increasing slope until 2005 (slope ‑16.73).Mortality rates due to HF, MI and CVA had a similar trend,decreasing by 22.95%, 16.89% and 38.06%, respectively.ConclusionsThe close temporal relationship between the relative increasein cardiovascular mortality and the reduction of GDP mightconsider economic and financial crises as a novel psychosocialrisk factor.