The intersection of health and wealth: association between personal bankruptcy and myocardial infarction rates in Canada

BACKGROUND: We examined the association between personal bankruptcy filing and acute myocardial infarction (AMI) rates in Canada. METHODS: Between 2002 and 2009, aggregate and yearly bankruptcy and AMI rates were estimated for 1,155 forward sortation areas of Canada. Scatter plot and correlations were used to assess the association of the aggregate rates. Cross-lagged structural equation models were used to explore the longitudinal relationship between bankruptcy and AMI after adjustment for socio-economic factors. RESULTS: A cross-lagged structural equation model estimated that on average, an increase of 100 in bankruptcy filing count is associated with an increase of 1.5 (p = 0.02) in AMI count in the following year, and an increase of 100 in AMI count is associated with an increase of 7 (p < 0.01) in bankruptcy filing count. CONCLUSIONS: We found that regions with higher rates of AMI corresponded to those with higher levels of economic and financial stress, as indicated by personal bankruptcy rate, and vice-versa.