Introduction:
Chronic kidney disease (CKD) is one of the risk factors for stroke. While there was increased mortality from CKD and cardiovascular diseases including stroke during COVID-19, the correlation between death from CKD and stroke during the COVID-19 pandemic is unclear. We aim to examine the correlation between mortality from CKD (with and without dialysis) and stroke before and during the COVID-19 pandemic among different ethnic U.S. populations.
Methods:
U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC Wonder) data was used. Pearson’s correlation coefficient was used to examine the correlation between age-adjusted mortality rates of CKD over 10 years between 2015 and 2024 and those from stroke. Subgroup analyses by stratifying the data based on ethnicity (Hispanic and non-Hispanic) were performed both before the COVID-19 pandemic (2015 - 2019) and during the pandemic (after 2019).
Results:
Age-adjusted mortality from CKD increased before and during the COVID-19 pandemic. In contrast, the mortality from stroke decreased before (from 37.62 to 36.96 per 100,000 populations) and increased during (from 38.84 to 49.62 per 100,000 populations) the pandemic.
The overall correlation between age-adjusted mortality from CKD and stroke was high with a correlation coefficient of 0.7705. The correlation in Hispanics was greater than in non-Hispanics (0.6659 vs. 0.3879). Stratified the study period into before and during pandemic, the correlation was inverse before and positive during the pandemic (-0.8094 vs. 0.7792). This relationship pattern remains among non-Hispanic population with attenuated correlation (-0.7437 vs. 0.6708). Among the Hispanic population, the correlation had been positive and higher during compared to before the pandemic (0.7783 vs 0.4328).
Conclusions:
Mortality from CKD and stroke increased during the COVID-19 pandemic. A greater correlation of mortality from CKD and stroke is among the Hispanic population during the pandemic. Hispanic patients with CKD might encounter health disparities such as stroke, particularly during the pandemic when medical resources were limited.
I have no potential conflict of interest to disclose.
I did not use generative AI and AI-assisted technologies in the writing process.