Multiple determinants of amenable cardiovascular deaths in Romania

The Romanian healthcare system is going through a process of ongoing health reform since 1990s. At the same time, is one of the most underfinanced systems in EU, facing major problems related to resources allocation, the... [ view full abstract ]

The Romanian healthcare system is going through a process of ongoing health reform since 1990s. At the same time, is one of the most underfinanced systems in EU, facing major problems related to resources allocation, the quality of the services provided, and its main outcomes. In this respect, an analysis of the determinants of amenable mortality due to the cardiovascular deaths (1st cause of deaths) might provide an useful insight in order to design better health policies in Romania.
The impact of several determinants such as: socio-economic status, geographic and environmental factors, access to medical services, and resources allocation is measured trough econometric models and other quantitative techniques such as descriptive statistic analysis performed at different administrative levels (NUTS2 and NUTS3) and cross-sectional and panel analysis (different type of estimation methods taking into consideration territorial heteroskedasticity and outliers).
The results show a large heterogeneity across the country geography along with lifestyle characteristics being important predictors for this type of deaths.
Changing the architecture of health care provision, as well as more efficient and equitable allocation of resources might change the pattern of avoidable cardiovascular deaths in Romania.