Systemic Sclerosis and Cardiovascular Disease-related Mortality in the United States: An Analysis of Trends and Disparities, 1999-2022
Discuss this preprint
Start a discussion What are Sciety discussions?Listed in
This article is not in any list yet, why not save it to one of your lists.Abstract
Background Systemic Sclerosis (SSc) increases cardiovascular disease (CVD) morbidity and mortality. Data regarding SSc-related CVD mortality in the United States (US) population has not been studied. We aim to analyze the mortality rate related to SSc and cardiovascular disease in the US adult population and differences across different demographic and geographic subgroups. Methods Systemic Sclerosis-associated CVD mortality data were extracted from the Center for Disease Control and Prevention Wide-ranging Online Data Epidemiologic Research (CDC WONDER) database. We extracted age-adjusted mortality rates (AAMR) per 1,000,000 people for population age ≥15 and calculated annual change percentage (APC) using Joinpoint regression. The data were stratified into demographic (gender, race, age groups) and geographic (census region, and state) groups to analyze differences between the trends. Results Between 1999 and 2022, 25,727 deaths were related to SSc and CVD deaths. The overall AAMR for SSc-associated CVD mortality decreased significantly from 5.39 in 1999 to 3.58 in 2022. AAMR decreased by 39.33% from 1999 to 2019, increased by 10.50% from 2019 to 2022. Sex disparities were identified, with females experiencing a higher AAMR (6.01) compared to males (1.63). NH Blacks or African Americans had the highest overall AAMR (5.76), followed by Hispanics (4.14), and NH Whites (3.76). Age disparities were identified with the Elderly (≥75) having the highest overall AAMR (18.70), followed by Middle Age (45-74) (6.15), and Young (15-44) (0.59). Geographically, all regions had similar AAMR. Conclusion Overall, from 1999 to 2022, CVD-related mortality associated with SSc decreased in the US, with a brief and modest increase seen during the COVID-19 pandemic. Despite this overall decline, substantial disparities were identified with NH Black people, women, and people ≥ 75 exhibiting significantly higher AAMRs.
