Abstract
BACKGROUND: Existing studies on cardiovascular diseases (CVDs) often focus on individual-level behavioral risk factors, but research examining social determinants is limited. This study applies a novel machine learning approach to identify the key predictors of county-level care costs and prevalence of CVDs (including atrial fibrillation, acute myocardial infarction, congestive heart failure, and ischemic heart disease). METHODS AND RESULTS: We applied the extreme gradient boosting machine learning approach to a total of 3137 counties. Data are from the Interactive Atlas of Heart Disease and Stroke and a variety of national data sets. We found that although demographic composition (eg, percentages of Black people and older adults) and risk factors (eg, smoking and physical inactivity) are among the most important predictors for inpatient care costs and CVD prevalence, contextual factors such as social vulnerability and racial and ethnic segregation are particularly important for the total and outpatient care costs. Poverty and income inequality are the major contributors to the total care costs for counties that are in nonmetro areas or have high segregation or social vulnerability levels. Racial and ethnic segregation is particularly important in shaping the total care costs for counties with low poverty rates or social vulnerability level. Demographic composition, education, and social vulnerability are consistently important across different scenarios. CONCLUSIONS: The findings highlight the differences in predictors for different types of CVD cost outcomes and the importance of social determinants. Interventions directed toward areas that have been economically and socially marginalized may aid in reducing the impact of CVDs.
Original language | English (US) |
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Article number | e027919 |
Journal | Journal of the American Heart Association |
Volume | 12 |
Issue number | 5 |
DOIs | |
State | Published - Mar 7 2023 |
Funding
K.Z. and L.H. were partially funded by the American Heart Association (grant 19TPA34830085). K.Z., L.L., and L.H. were partially funded by the National Institute on Aging of the National Institutes of Health under award number R01AG081244. C.T. was partially funded by the American Heart Association (grant 19GPSGC35180031).
Keywords
- cardiovascular disease
- health care costs
- machine learning
- racial and ethnic segregation
- social determinants of health
ASJC Scopus subject areas
- Cardiology and Cardiovascular Medicine