Temporal trends in inequalities of the burden of cardiovascular disease across 186 countries and territories.

BACKGROUND: Cardiovascular disease (CVD) is a leading cause of morbidity and mortality globally. The extent to which CVD affects the population's health varies across countries. Moreover, quantitative estimates of the trend of inequalities in CVD burden remain unclear. The objective of our study was to assess the socioeconomic inequalities and temporal trends of CVD burden across 186 countries and territories from 2000 to 2019. METHODS: We extracted data from the Global Burden of Disease, Injuries, and Risk Factors Study (GBD) 2019, and conducted a cross-national time-series analysis. Age-standardized disability-adjusted life-year (DALY) rates were used to measure the burden of CVDs, and gross national income (GNI) per capita was used to approximate the socioeconomic development. Concentration curves and concentration indexes (CIs) were generated to evaluate the cross-national socioeconomic inequality of CVD burden. A joinpoint regression analysis was used to quantify the changes in trends in socioeconomic inequality of CVD burden from 2000 to 2019. RESULTS: The age-standardized DALY rates of CVDs decreased in 170 (91%) of 186 countries from 2000 to 2019. The concentration curves of the age-standardized DALY rates of CVDs were above the equality line from 2000 to 2019, indicating a disproportional distribution of CVD burden in low-income countries. The CIs declined from - 0.091 (95% CI: -0.128 to - 0.054) in 2000 to - 0.151 (95% CI: -0.190 to - 0.112) in 2019, indicating worsened pro-poor inequality distributions of CVD burden worldwide. A four-phase trend of changes in the CIs of age-standardized DALY rates for CVD was observed from 2000 to 2019, with an average annual percentage change (AAPC) of - 2.7% (95% CI: -3.0 to - 2.4). Decreasing trends in CIs were observed in all CVD subcategories but endocarditis, with AAPC ranging from - 6.6% (95% CI: -7.3 to - 5.9) for ischemic heart disease to - 0.2% (95% CI: -0.4 to - 0.1) for hypertensive heart disease. CONCLUSIONS: Globally, the burden of CVD has decreased in more than 90% of countries over the past two decades, accompanied by an increasing trend of cross-country inequalities. Moreover, the overall burden of CVD continues to fall primarily on low-income countries.

Temporal trends in inequalities of the burden of HIV/AIDS across 186 countries and territories.

BACKGROUND: The Global Burden of Disease, Injuries, and Risk Factors Study (GBD) has reported that HIV/AIDS continues to take a disproportionate toll on global health. However, the trends in global inequality of HIV/AIDS burden have remained ambiguous over the past two decades. The objectives of our study were to assess the socioeconomic inequalities, and temporal trends of HIV/AIDS across 186 countries and territories from 2000 to 2019. METHODS: We extracted data from the GBD 2019, and conducted a cross-national time-series analysis. Age-standardized disability-adjusted life-year (DALY) rates were used to measure the global burden of HIV/AIDS. Gross national income (GNI) per capita was used to approximate the national socioeconomic status. Linear regression analysis was conducted to investigate the relationship between age-standardized DALY rates due to HIV/AIDS and GNI per capita. The concentration curve and concentration index (CI) were generated to evaluate the cross-national socioeconomic inequality of HIV/AIDS burden. A joinpoint regression analysis was used to quantify the changes in trends in socioeconomic inequality of HIV/AIDS burden from 2000 to 2019. RESULTS: A decrease in age-standardized DALY rates for HIV/AIDS occurred in 132 (71%) of 186 countries/territories from 2000 to 2019, of which 52 (39%) countries/territories achieved a decrease in DALYs of more than 50%, and 27 (52%) of the 52 were from sub-Saharan Africa. The concentration curves of the age-standardized DALY rates of HIV/AIDS were above the equality line from 2000 to 2019. The CI rose from - 0.4625 (95% confidence interval - 0.6220 to -0.2629) in 2000 to -0.4122 (95% confidence interval - 0.6008 to -0.2235) in 2019. A four-phase trend of changes in the CIs of age-standardized DALY rates for HIV/AIDS was observed across 2000 to 2019, with an average increase of 0.6% (95% confidence interval 0.4 to 0.8, P < 0.001). CONCLUSIONS: Globally, the burden of HIV/AIDS has decreased over the past two decades, accompanied by a trend of narrowing cross-country inequalities of HIV/AIDS burden. Moreover, the burden of HIV/AIDS continues to fall primarily in low-income countries.

Knowledge domain and emerging trends in multimorbidity and frailty research from 2003 to 2023: a scientometric study using citespace and VOSviewer.

BACKGROUND: Multimorbidity and frailty represent emerging global health burdens that have garnered increased attention from researchers over the past two decades. We conducted a scientometric analysis of the scientific literature on the coexistence of multimorbidity and frailty to assess major research domains, trends, and inform future lines of research. METHODS: We systematically retrieved scientific publications on multimorbidity and frailty from the Web of Science Core Collection, spanning from 2003 to 2023. Scientometric analysis was performed using CiteSpace and VOSviewer, enabling the visualization and evaluation of networks comprising co-citation references, co-occurring keywords, countries, institutions, authors, and journals. RESULTS: A total of 584 eligible publications were included in the analysis. An exponential rise in research interest in multimorbidity and frailty was observed, with an average annual growth rate of 47.92% in publications between 2003 and 2022. Three major research trends were identified: standardized definition and measurement of multimorbidity and frailty, comprehensive geriatric assessment utilizing multimorbidity and frailty instruments for older adults, and the multifaceted associations between these two conditions. The United States of America, Johns Hopkins University, Fried LP, and the Journal of the American Geriatrics Society were identified as the most influential entities within this field, representing the leading country, institution, author, and journal, respectively. CONCLUSIONS: Scientometric analysis provides invaluable insights to clinicians and researchers involved in multimorbidity and frailty research by identifying intellectual bases and research trends. While the instruments and assessments of multimorbidity and frailty with scientific validity and reliability are of undeniable importance, further investigations are also warranted to unravel the underlying biological mechanisms of interactions between multimorbidity and frailty, explore the mental health aspects among older individuals with multimorbidity and frailty, and refine strategies to reduce prescriptions in this specific population.

Factors associated with health care utilization and catastrophic health expenditure among cancer patients in China: Evidence from the China health and retirement longitudinal study.

Background: Cancer, the leading cause of mortality in China, is a significant burden on patients, their families, the medical system, and society at large. However, there is minimal data on health service utilization and catastrophic health expenditure (CHE) among cancer patients in China. The objective of this study was to identify factors associated with health care utilization and CHE in Chinese cancer patients. Methods: The 2018 wave of a nationally representative dataset, the China Health and Retirement Longitudinal Study, was used in our study. Of 18,968 respondents recruited for the analysis, 388 were clinically diagnosed with cancer. CHE was defined as household health expenditure that exceeded 40% of non-food household expenses. A binary logistic regression model was used to identify the risks of cancer exposure among all participants, along with the likelihood of CHE in households with cancer patients at the 40% threshold. A negative binomial regression model was used to identify determinants of health service utilization among cancer patients. Results: Contracting a family physician (incidence rate ratio IRR: 2.38, 1.18-4.77), Urban Employee Basic Medical Insurance (IRR: 4.02, 1.91-8.46, compared to the uninsured), Urban and Rural Resident Basic Medical Insurance (IRR: 3.08, 1.46-6.49, compared to the uninsured), and higher per-capita household consumption were positively associated with inpatient service utilization. Patients with a college education and above reported a greater number of outpatient visits (IRR: 5.78, 2.56-13.02) but fewer inpatient hospital days (IRR: 0.37, 0.20-0.67). Being diagnosed with a non-cancer chronic non-communicable disease was associated with an increased number of outpatient visits (IRR: 1.20, 1.10-1.31). Of the 388 participants, 50.1% of households had CHE, which was negatively correlated with a larger household size (odds ratio OR: 0.52, 0.32-0.86) and lower socioeconomic status [for quintile 5 (lowest group) OR: 0.32, 0.14-0.72]. Conclusions: The socioeconomic characteristics of cancer patients had a considerable impact on their healthcare utilization. Individualized and targeted strategies for cancer management should be implemented to identify high-risk populations and trace the utilization of care among Chinese cancer patients. Strategic purchasing models in cancer care and social health insurance with expanded benefits packages for cancer patients are crucial to tackling the cancer burden in China.