Health in hard times: Economic insecurity and cardiovascular incidence since the great recession in 3 countries

The Great Recession has produced the worst and most sustained rates of unemployment since the Great Depression. The effects of the recession have been compounded by wealth loss and a massive foreclosure crisis producing widespread economic insecurity. Although the financial crisis has spread globally, different countries have been differentially impacted by unemployment and economic insecurity. Germany's economy has been resilient in spite of a housing market crisis and unemployment rates have actually decreased since 2008. Spain has seen a massive increase in unemployment as a result of its sovereign debt crisis. Previous studies have demonstrated a robust association between unemployment and cardiovascular risk. We explore the impact of the economic crisis on heart attack incidence in 3 countries- U.S., Spain and Germany before and during the Great Recession (2006-2010) using panel data of 50-65 year olds from two comparable surveys- the US Health and Retirement Survey (HRS) and the Survey of Health, Ageing and Retirement in Europe (SHARE). We find that all three countries saw an increase in heart attack incidence, but the increase was steeper in Spain and the U.S. respectively compared with Germany. Further research will explore whether this rate of increase is steeper than previous time points and whether the rate of change differs between adults age 65+ and age 50-65. Research on how differences in policy responses to the Great Recession are causally related to rates of cardiovascular disease risk can offer insight into potential policy levers to reduce the human impact of economic crises.