Vol. 15 No. 4 (2024):
Research Article

Exploring Spatiotemporal Patterns of Cardiovascular Disease in Greece: Insights from the ATTICA Study (2002-2022)

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Antigoni Faka
Department of Geography, Harokopio University, Athens, Greece
Christos Chalkias
Department of Geography, Harokopio University, Athens, Greece
Evangelia Damigou
Department of Nutrition and Dietetics, Harokopio University, Athens, Greece
Christina Chrysohoou
First Cardiology Clinic, Medical School, National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, Hippokration Hospital, Athens, Greece
Fotios Barkas
Department of Internal Medicine, Medical School, University of Ioannina, Ioannina, Greece
Dimitris Dalmyras
Department of Nutrition and Dietetics, Harokopio University, Athens, Greece
Konstantina Kyrilli
Department of Internal Medicine, Medical School, University of Ioannina, Ioannina, Greece
Christos Pitsavos
First Cardiology Clinic, Medical School, National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, Hippokration Hospital, Athens, Greece
Evangelos Liberopoulos
First Department of Propaedeutic Internal Medicine, Medical School, Laiko General Hospital, National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, Athens, Greece
Costas Tsioufis
First Cardiology Clinic, Medical School, National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, Hippokration Hospital, Athens, Greece
Petros P. Sfikakis
First Department of Propaedeutic Internal Medicine, Medical School, Laiko General Hospital, National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, Athens, Greece
Demosthenes Panagiotakos
Department of Nutrition and Dietetics, Harokopio University, Athens, Greece
Spatial variability of the fatal or non-fatal CVD occurrence rates across Attica municipalities: (a) 10-year CVD occurrence rates, 2012; (b) 20-year CVD occurrence rates, 2022
DOI: https://doi.org/10.48088/ejg.a.fak.15.4.271.280
Categories

Published 2024-12-06

Keywords

  • cardiovascular disease,
  • spatial epidemiology,
  • spatial autocorrelation,
  • spatial clustering,
  • Attica,
  • Greece
    • ...More
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How to Cite

Faka, Antigoni, Christos Chalkias, Evangelia Damigou, Christina Chrysohoou, Fotios Barkas, Dimitris Dalmyras, Konstantina Kyrilli, Christos Pitsavos, Evangelos Liberopoulos, Costas Tsioufis, Petros Sfikakis, and Demosthenes Panagiotakos. 2024. “Exploring Spatiotemporal Patterns of Cardiovascular Disease in Greece: Insights from the ATTICA Study (2002-2022)”. European Journal of Geography 15 (4):271-80. https://doi.org/10.48088/ejg.a.fak.15.4.271.280.

Copyright (c) 2024 Antigoni Faka, Christos Chalkias, Evangelia Damigou, Christina Chrysohoou, Fotios Barkas, Dimitris Dalmyras, Konstantina Kyrilli, Christos Pitsavos, Evangelos Liberopoulos, Costas Tsioufis, Petros P. Sfikakis, Demosthenes Panagiotakos

Creative Commons License

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.

Received 2024-09-17
Accepted 2024-12-06
Published 2024-12-06

Abstract

The objective of this study was to investigate spatiotemporal variability of cardiovascular disease (CVD) occurrence and identify spatial clusters on Attica region (Greece), over a 20-year period (2002-2022). The 10- and 20-year occurrence of fatal and non-fatal cardiovascular disease was obtained from the ATTICA study, which was conducted between 2002 and 2022. The sample used in this analysis included 1,935 (49,8% males) and 1,902 participants (49.5% males), respectively. CVD occurrence rate at the municipality level were mapped, and spatial autocorrelation analysis was performed to identify statistically significant clusters and outliers in the Attica region. The mapping of CVD occurrence rates revealed an observable increase in most municipalities during the observation period. In addition, a statistically significant clustering of high CVD occurrence rates was found in the most urbanized municipalities of the study area over the period under study.  These findings underscore the need for targeted interventions, focusing on urban populations, to effectively address this trend.

Highlights:

  • This study addresses the research gap on CVD trends in Attica, Greece, over 20 years.
  • CVD rates rose notably in the most urbanized municipalities of central Athens, while suburban areas maintained lower levels.
  • Positive spatial autocorrelation analysis was revealed for both the 10-year and 20-year CVD occurrence rates.
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