Geographic Inequities in Cardiovascular Disease in Texas

Lead investigators: Kyle Walker and Sean Crotty

In this project, Sean Crotty and Kyle Walker are studying how cardiovascular disease prevalence varies in Texas communities. They use millions of hospital discharge records to analyze how the landscape of cardiovascular disease has shifted over time in the state, and to assess what types of communities in Texas are most affected.   High rates of cardiovascular disease hospitalization are found in a diverse range of Texas communities – from lower-income urban and rural areas to middle-class exurbs.   Walker and Crotty have presented on this topic at the American Heart Association’s Scientific Sessions conference, and they have published their research in the journal Applied Geography (http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.apgeog.2014.11.011).

On-going research on this topic will seek to understand how rates of cardiovascular disease hospitalization have varied over time in Texas, and how different socio-economic and environmental factors might influence cardiovascular disease prevalence in different types of communities.  The goal is to help inform public health policy and prevention initiatives that account for these community-level variations.