Spatiotemporal and Demographic Trends and Disparities in Cardiovascular Disease Among Older Adults in the United States Based on 181 Million Hospitalization Records

BACKGROUND: The US population is aging, with concurrent increases in cardiovascular disease (CVD) burdens; however, spatiotemporal and demographic trends in CVD incidence in the US elderly have not been investigated in detail. This study aims to characterize trends from 1991 to 2014 in CVD hospitalizations among US Medicare beneficiaries, aged 65+ years, by single year of age/sex/race/state using records from the US Centers for Medicare & Medicaid, covering 98% of older Americans. METHODS AND RESULTS: We abstracted 181 202 758 US Centers for Medicare & Medicaid hospitalization records indicating CVD in any of 10 diagnosis codes; tabulated total cases of CVD by sex, age, race, state, and calendar year (1991–2014); and normalized hospitalization counts to standardize over data batches. Stratum‐specific hospitalization rates were calculated using US Centers for Medicare & Medicaid records and US Census population counts; a cubic polynomial function was fit to year‐specific distributions of rates by single year of age. Nationwide, CVD‐related hospitalization rates increased from 1991 to 2014. Differences between hospitalization rates at age 65 and 66 years, representing magnitude of healthcare deferral until Medicare onset, increased by 7.49 per 100 people 1991 to 2006 overall, and were largest among blacks and Native Americans. Rates of CVD hospitalizations were consistently highest in the Midwest/Deep South. Evidence of misclassification of race/ethnicity in US Centers for Medicare & Medicaid hospitalization records in the 1990s was noted. CONCLUSIONS: Trends in CVD‐related hospitalization rates among older Americans highlight the essential need for targeted policies to reduce CVD burdens, to improve reporting of race/ethnicity in large administrative databases, and to enhance access to affordable healthcare.