Is war hard on the heart? Gender, wartime stress and late life cardiovascular conditions in a population of Vietnamese older adults

Korinek, Kim; Young, Yvette; Teerawichitchainan, Bussarawan; Chúc, Nguyễn Thị Kim; Kovnick, Miles; Zimmer, Zachary

doi:10.1016/j.socscimed.2020.113380

Cited by 17 publications

(13 citation statements)

References 55 publications

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“…Holman et al (2008) demonstrated an increase in cardiovascular ailments like hypertension and heart problems at long-term follow-ups in a national sample after the 9/11 attacks [ 5 ]. Korinek et al (2020) in a study of Vietnamese older adults showed a positive association between cardiovascular diseases and wartime exposure [ 6 ]. These implications for cardiovascular diseases might manifest later and might not be evident in Google Trends searches in this limited time.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Cardiac Symptoms During the Russia-Ukraine War: A Google Trends Analysis

Dolkar¹,

Gowda²,

Chatterjee³

2023

Cureus

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BackgroundThe 2022 Ukraine-Russian War has led to significant anxiety, anguish, and trauma among the people in Ukraine. The objective of this study was to analyze the Google Trend results of common cardiac symptoms in Ukraine, Russia, and worldwide in 2022 and compare that to 2021 with the hypothesis that common cardiac symptoms in the war-affected regions would be higher compared to the rest of the world. We hypothesize that the search trends of cardiac symptoms would increase in Ukraine given the turmoil caused by the Russian invasion. MethodsWe queried Google Trends for common cardiac symptoms such as chest pain, dizziness, palpitations, syncope, etc. Google Trends provides results as relative search volume (RSV) displayed in a geographical format. The RSV ranges from 0 to 100, with 0 indicating that the search term is not popular, and 100 indicating the search term's popularity is at its peak. Google Trends of cardiac symptoms in Russia, Ukraine, and worldwide was taken two weeks before and after February 24, 2022, compared with the same period in 2021. To assess the difference in Google Trends between the study periods in 2022 and 2021, the paired ttest was used. ResultsOverall, Google Trends for cardiac symptoms was lower in Ukraine and Russia than worldwide, in both 2021 and 2022 during the study period. There was a significant reduction in search for chest pain (14 vs. 30.5; p<0.049), pedal edema (40.0 vs 66.6; p approaching 0), and syncope (37.8 vs. 58.4; p<0.002) in Ukraine during the study periods in 2022 compared to 2021. There was a decrease in the searches for dyspnea (44.6 vs. 55.4; p<0.029) in Russia and for dizziness (87.6 vs. 92.8; p<0.005) worldwide. There was an increase in the searches for edema (93.6 vs. 91; p <0.002) and for fatigue (88.6 vs 79.5; p approaching 0) worldwide in study periods in 2022 as compared to 2021. There was no other significant difference between cardiac symptom search trends during the periods evaluated in Ukraine, Russia, and worldwide. ConclusionThere appears to be a significant reduction in searching for a few cardiovascular symptoms, namely, chest pain, pedal edema, and syncope in Ukraine, which may be due to a focus on other immediate problems related to war and the availability of the Internet.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Cardiac Symptoms During the Russia-Ukraine War: A Google Trends Analysis

Dolkar¹,

Gowda²,

Chatterjee³

2023

Cureus

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“…We would be remiss if we did not mention at least a few articles that have been published since the time of our study window. These include Korinek et al [ 64 ], who investigated the role of PTSD in war stressors and subsequent CVD in older adults, Seligowski et al [ 65 ], who examined sex differences in pharmaceuticals in the relationship between PTSD and CVD, and Gavin et al [ 66 ], who explored PTSD as a link between racial discrimination and CVD. We recommend readers who are keen on this topic to use this review as a jumping-off point to the ever-growing field of research in PTSD and CVD.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The Intersectionality of Sex and Race in the Relationship Between Posttraumatic Stress Disorder and Cardiovascular Disease: A Scoping Review

2023

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Objectives: Posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) has been linked with cardiovascular disease (CVD), suggesting a risk for negative health outcomes among individuals with PTSD. This review synthesizes the temporal relationship between PTSD and CVD and highlights the intersection of sex and race.Methods: Covidence was used to systematically review the literature published between 1980 and 2020.Results: 176 studies were extracted. 68 (38.64%) of the studies were a predominantly male sample. 31 studies (17.61%) were a predominantly female sample. Most reported participants of both sexes (n = 72; 40.91%) and only 5 (2.84%) did not report respondent sex. No studies reported transgender participants. 110 (62.5%) studies reported racial and ethnic diversity in their study population, 18 (10.22%) described a completely or predominantly white sample, and 48 (27.27%) did not report race or ethnicity of their study population.Conclusion: A compelling number of studies did not identify sex differences in the link between PTSD and CVD or failed to report race and ethnicity. Investigating sex, race, ethnicity, and the temporal relationship between PTSD and CVD are promising avenues for future research.

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“…In men, increased PTSD symptoms may increase CVD risk by increasing sympathovagal balance and aortic stiffness [ 27 ]. For certain CVD conditions, particularly hypertension, the associations between wartime stressors and late-life cardiovascular comorbidities diverge across gender by women experiencing higher penalties for their exposure to war-related stressors than their male counterparts [ 28 ].…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Knowledge, Attitudes, and Screening for Obstructive Sleep Apnea and Diabetes Mellitus among War Veterans Seeking Treatment of Posttraumatic Stress Disorder

Mayer¹,

Mizdrak

Babić

et al. 2021

Healthcare

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Posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is one of the most common psychiatric disorders. However, we should not neglect the somatic aspects of PTSD. Associations with cardiovascular diseases (CVD) are particularly concerning because PTSD was associated with an even 53% higher risk for CVD. This study aimed to analyze the prevalence of several CVD risk factors, especially diabetes mellitus among PTSD patients divided into three groups according to obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) risk stratification (low, intermediate, and high). This cross-sectional study included one hundred male PTSD veterans. The mean age was 53 (40–67) years. The estimated OSA risk was 95% for the whole cohort, and 53% were in the high-risk group. Median HbA1c was 5.6 (4.6–10)%. The hemoglobin A1c (HbA1c) levels showed that 34 patients were in the prediabetes group, and 20 of them fulfilled the criteria for diabetes. However, only 13 of them were aware of their previous diagnosis of diabetes mellitus. In testing knowledge about diabetes, 62% and only 23% of patients knew the correct definition of HbA1c and level of fasting plasma glucose, respectively. Diabetic patients had insufficient knowledge about diabetic complications and treatment. A higher level of PTSD symptoms in veterans was associated with a higher prevalence of OSA. The results strongly support further research and education into early detection of CVD risk factors associated with PTSD.

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Is war hard on the heart? Gender, wartime stress and late life cardiovascular conditions in a population of Vietnamese older adults

Cited by 17 publications

References 55 publications

Cardiac Symptoms During the Russia-Ukraine War: A Google Trends Analysis

Cardiac Symptoms During the Russia-Ukraine War: A Google Trends Analysis

The Intersectionality of Sex and Race in the Relationship Between Posttraumatic Stress Disorder and Cardiovascular Disease: A Scoping Review

Knowledge, Attitudes, and Screening for Obstructive Sleep Apnea and Diabetes Mellitus among War Veterans Seeking Treatment of Posttraumatic Stress Disorder

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