More people from the rural areas of the United States are dying from heart disease, a new study has found. According to a report by the Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center in Boston, heart diseases like heart attack and stroke deaths increased among 25-64-year-olds in US rural areas by about 21 per cent between 2010 and 2022. The report, published in the Journal of the American College of Cardiology, said this happened even as heart death rates declined per cent among the elderly in urban areas.
The results also showed the disparity between rural residents and urban dwellers widened during the COVID-19 pandemic. “Leading up to the pandemic, the cardiometabolic health of rural communities was already in decline, particularly among younger adults,” said Dr. Lucas Marinacci, lead researcher and cardiology fellow at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, in a news release.
"This may have made them more vulnerable to both the direct and indirect cardiovascular effects of COVID-19,” he added. Rural communities bear the burden of healthcare system challenges For the study, researchers analyzed national death data for more than 11 million adults between 2010 and 2022. “Previous research has demonstrated disparities in cardiovascular mortality between rural and urban Americans, with, historically, more people in rural areas dying from heart disease compared to people living in cities,” Marinacci said.
“Rural communities bear a disproportionate burden of cardiovascular risk.