Business cycles, hypertension and cardiovascular disease: Evidence from the Icelandic economic collapse

Abstract

Only examining mortality effects of society-wide economic conditions may understate the overall effect on cardiovascular health.

Macroeconomic conditions and population health in Iceland

“…Microdata has been used to study the short-term impacts of the 2008 downturn, yielding results that point to better health behaviours but higher stress and hypertension of Icelanders during the post-2008 crisis (Ásgeirsdóttir, Ólafsdóttir, and Ragnarsdóttir 2014;Ólafsdóttir, Hrafnkelsson, and Ásgeirsdóttir 2014;Hauksdóttir et al 2013;McClure et al 2012;Birgisdóttir et al 2017). On a macro level it is still unclear how health was affected in the long run, but combined with research using microdata our understanding of the relationship between economic cycles and health improves.…”

“…For instance, a longer-term analysis has been made on the relationship between business cycles and workplace accidents (Ásgeirsdóttir and Tryggvason 2014), and the most recent economic downturn has been the subject of several studies on business cycles and health (Ásgeirsdóttir, Ólafsdóttir, and Ragnarsdóttir 2014;Guðjónsdóttir et al 2012;Ólafsdóttir, Hrafnkelsson, and Ásgeirsdóttir 2014;Jónsdóttir and Ásgeirsdóttir 2014;Ásgeirsdóttir et al 2013;Ásgeirsdóttir and Ragnarsdóttir 2014;Eiríksdóttir et al 2013;Ólafsdóttir and Ásgeirsdóttir 2015;Hauksdóttir et al 2013;Ásgeirsdóttir et al 2016;Birgisdóttir, Jónsson, and Ásgeirsdóttir 2017), with the majority of research examining health behaviours (Ólafsdóttir, Hrafnkelsson, and Ásgeirsdóttir 2014;Guðjónsdóttir et al 2012;Jónsdóttir and Ásgeirsdóttir 2014;Ásgeirsdóttir et al 2013;Ásgeirsdóttir et al 2016;Ólafsdóttir and Ásgeirsdóttir 2015).…”

Economic conditions, hypertension, and cardiovascular disease: analysis of the Icelandic economic collapse

“…The immediate effects of the Icelandic economic collapse on health have been studied to some extent, but a chance to examine longer-term effects for comparison is gradually emerging as time passes. We focus first and foremost on longer-term effects on hypertension, one of the most important risk factors for cardiovascular diseases [46–49] and the leading preventable risk factor for premature death worldwide [50, 51], but also examine cardiovascular disease for completeness, thus following up on a previously published analysis of short-term effects on those outcomes [7]. …”

“…The relationship between economic downturns and cardiovascular health is complicated and results have been mixed across settings (the interested reader is referred to the extensive supplementary online literary review by Asgeirsdottir et al [7]). This study adds to the growing literature in various ways.…”

Income-related inequalities in diseases and health conditions over the business cycle

“…These rapidly changing economic conditions make the years of 2007–2012 an ideal time period to examine the recession’s effects on income-related health inequality in Iceland. Although only Ásgeirsdóttir and Ragnarsdóttir [40] have examined the business-cycle effects of the collapse on income-related health distributions, the special research opportunity created by those dramatic circumstances in Iceland has been taken advantage of in multiple studies examining the effect of the crisis on health [13, 41–44] and health behaviors [45–50]. Due to the incredibly low pre-crisis unemployment rate (of only 2% in October 2007) the large percentage increase in unemployment during the crisis still resulted in a lower rate (of 6% in October 2009) than in most other hard-hit countries such as Spain and Ireland [46, 51].…”