Politicians, power, and the people's health: US elections and state health outcomes, 2012-2024.

ABSTRACT: Our descriptive study examined current associations (2022-2024) between US state-level health outcomes and 4 US state-level political metrics: 2 rarely used in public health research (political ideology of elected representatives based on voting records; trifectas, where 1 party controls the executive and legislative branches) and 2 more commonly used (state policies enacted; voter political lean). The 8 health outcomes spanned the life course: infant mortality, premature mortality (death at age <65), health insurance (adults aged 35-64), vaccination for children and persons aged ≥65 (flu; COVID-19 booster), maternity care deserts, and food insecurity. For the first 3 outcomes, we also examined trends in associations (2012-2024). For all political metrics, higher state-level political cons

SUBMITTER: Krieger N 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC11631342 | biostudies-literature | 2024 Dec

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature