Cardiovascular diseases in Ukraine: results of a retrospective analysis of the morbidity and current problems of its monitoring

Abstract

Annotation. Monitoring the population's morbidity is an essential component of effective public health management and the healthcare system. The study aimed to conduct a retrospective analysis of cardiovascular disease (CVD) morbidity in Ukraine and its regions for the years 2010-2017, as well as to compare it with European and European Union countries. The study utilized data from the Medical Statistics Center of the Ministry of Health of Ukraine, obtained from state statistical reporting forms (form No. 12) and analyzed using statistical methods. The regional differentiation of primary morbidity and prevalence indicators of CVD in Ukraine was assessed using the amplitude of regional distribution, upper and lower quartiles, and the coefficient of regional variation. A comparison of age-standardized CVD morbidity indicators in Ukraine with European and European Union countries for the years 2010-2019 was based on data from the Global Burden of Disease (GBD) international epidemiological study, updated for 2019. It was found that in 2017, over 22 million adult residents in Ukraine suffered from CVD, with more than 1.7 million new cases of CVD registered annually among the adult population. CVD ranked first in the prevalence of diseases among the adult population (with a relative share of 37.4%) and second in the structure of primary morbidity (10.3%). Age-standardized rates of primary CVD morbidity in Ukraine exceeded similar indicators in European countries by 1.6 times and in EU countries by 1.9 times, and this significant gap was primarily due to high national rates of ischemic heart disease and stroke. In Ukraine, there is significant territorial differentiation in the levels of CVD morbidity and prevalence (coefficients of regional variation exceeding 20%). The study identified regions with consistently high levels of CVD morbidity. The unfavorable epidemiological situation regarding CVD in Ukraine necessitates the development and implementation of comprehensive state and regional interdisciplinary prevention programs, taking into account positive European experience in CVD control. Solving the problem of preventing CVD morbidity is impossible without establishing a modern monitoring and evaluation system of the epidemiological situation regarding CVD at the regional and national levels, which should utilize not only information on hospitalization, disability, and mortality due to CVD but also revitalize data collection and synthesis on CVD incidence, prevalence, and risk factors at a new methodological level, using modern information technologies.