Feb 11, 2025 10:00:00

Research shows that infant and early mortality rates are higher in municipalities with conservative politicians

In the United States,

Republican Donald Trump was inaugurated as the 47th president, and the administration has shifted from the liberal Democratic Party to the conservative Republican Party. Meanwhile, a new study analyzing the relationship between political ideology and health status in the United States state by state has reported that states with more conservative political indicators have higher infant mortality rates, premature mortality rates, and the proportion of households facing food insecurity.

Politicians, power, and the people's health: US elections and state health outcomes, 2012–2024 | Health Affairs Scholar | Oxford Academic
https://academic.oup.com/healthaffairsscholar/article/2/12/qxae163/7909271

Conservative leadership tied to higher infant and premature mortality rates
https://www.psypost.org/conservative-political-leadership-associated-with-higher-premature-mortality-rates/

Public health research has long focused on health care subsidy systems and public health regulations, but little attention has been paid to 'the political ideology of elected officials and the concentration of power within the executive branch. So a research team led by Nancy Krieger of the Harvard School of Public Health investigated the impact of state-level political dynamics on public health.

The researchers argue that politicians' views drive state policy, which has social and economic effects on people's health. By examining whether elected politicians are liberal or conservative in conjunction with health indicators, they can uncover a systematic relationship between partisanship and health.

To examine state government ideology, the research team analyzed data collected between 2012 and 2024 on the 'political ideology of elected officials,' 'the political party that controls the executive and legislative branches,' 'state policy indices reflecting liberal or conservative leanings,' and 'voter political leanings.'

We also correlated these political indicators with health outcomes, including infant mortality, premature mortality (under age 65), health insurance coverage among working-age people (35-64), childhood vaccination rates, influenza vaccination rates among older adults, COVID-19 vaccine booster vaccinations among people aged 65 and older, food insecurity, and lack of maternal care.

As a result of their analysis, the research team found a consistent and significant association between state-level conservative tendencies and poorer health outcomes. For example, states with conservative Republican-dominated executive and legislative branches had 25.49 more premature deaths per 100,000 residents than states with liberal Democrat-dominated branches. Infant mortality rates were also 0.94 more per 100,000 in conservative-dominated states, a trend that persisted even after controlling for poverty disparities.

Additionally, food security and health insurance coverage rates were also associated with state political leanings. The proportion of uninsured motorists aged 35-64 was 2.76 percentage points higher in states with Republican-controlled executive and legislative branches than in states with Democratic-controlled branches. The proportion of food-insecure households was also 0.68 percentage points higher in states with Republican-controlled executive and legislative branches.

Vaccination rates were also significantly influenced by state political leanings, with states with more liberal political indicators having 5.95 percentage points higher COVID-19 booster vaccination rates among adults aged 65 and older than conservative states, 3.06 percentage points higher childhood vaccination rates, and 4.35 percentage points higher influenza vaccination rates among the elderly, suggesting that state policies and governance have a significant impact on preventive healthcare.

When evaluating changes over time to examine the impact of COVID-19, they also found that conservative death rates increased significantly from 2018 to 2021. The most conservative states saw an increase in premature deaths of 29 per 100,000 people over the same period, compared with just 17.6 per 100,000 in the most liberal states.

Indeed, there is a strong correlation between COVID-19 mortality and state partisanship, with states that tend to be more Republican tending to have higher mortality rates and states that tend to be more Democratic tending to have lower mortality rates.

Expert statistician Nate Silver shows strong correlation between COVID-19 deaths and state partisanship - GIGAZINE

'The observed pattern of associations indicates that elections, political ideology, and the concentration of political power are important for population health,' the research team said. If conservative politics are causally related to poorer health and reduced access to health care, the results of the 2024 US presidential election could affect people's health.