Journal: IPSI Transactions on Internet Research

Education and Cardiovascular Diseases:
A Case Study of Patients at the Institute
Of Cardiovascular Diseases of Vojvodina
(Northern Serbia)

Authors: Kričković, Emina Kričković, Zoran Marković, Slobodan B.
Stojšić-Milosavljević, Anastazija Cvetković, Vladimir M. and Lukić, Tin


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Abstract

Investigating the relationship between education level and disease incidence is a critical indicator of population health. This study examines the relationship between educational attainment and cardiovascular diseases (CVDs) among patients treated at the Institute for Cardiovascular Diseases of Vojvodina (ICDV) in Sremska Kamenica, northern Serbia. The study period spans from 2003 to 2023. To perform statistical analysis, data processing, and visualisation, several Python modules were utilised. A chi-squared test was first conducted, yielding a values indicating a statistically significant relationship between education level and the number of admitted CVDs patients. Subsequently, a Poisson regression model was applied to aggregated patient admission data to assess the association between educational attainment and CVDs incidence over time. The results confirmed strong statistical significance for both the main effects and their interactions, with all interaction terms showing p-values smaller than 10⁻¹⁸. Additionally, this study conducted an Emerging Hot Spot (EHS) analysis by the education level of patients. Spatial patterns were identified in 152 settlements. All of these settlements exhibited hot spots only, specifically “Consecutive Hot Spot” and “Sporadic Hot Spot” patterns. These findings indicate that temporal trends in hospitalisation rates vary significantly by education level, emphasising the need for targeted preventive measures among lower-educated populations. Studies of this kind can serve as a model for similar research in other regions, helping to inform evidence-based public health strategies and contribute to a better understanding of the social determinants of health on a broader scale.

Keywords

Education, Cardiovascular Diseases, Institute of Cardiovascular Diseases of Vojvodina, Poisson Regression, Emerging Hot spot analysis.


Published in: IPSI Transaction on Internet Research (Volume: 22, Issue: 3)
Publisher: IPSI, Belgrade

Date of Publication: July 1, 2026

Open Access: CC-BY-NC-ND
DOI: https://doi.org/10.58245/ipsi.tir.2603.06

Pages: 46 - 60

ISSN: 1820 - 4503

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Kričković, Emina

Emina Kričković is a Research Associate at the University of Belgrade, Faculty of Geography, Serbia. She received a PhD degree in Geosciences with the thesis “Influence of geographic-medical factors on population health in the Republic of Serbia’s Autonomous Province of Vojvodina (AP Vojvodina)” in 2022 at the University of Belgrade, Faculty of Geography. In the same faculty, she received the BSc degree in Geospatial and Environmental Science and the MSc degree in Geospatial and Environmental Science. Her research interests include medical geography and environmental sciences.
e-mail: emina.krickovic@gef.bg.ac.rs, ORCID: 0000-0002-0737-5636

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Kričković, Zoran

Zoran Kričković is working in the Serbian Ministry of Defence. Additionally, as a researcher at the Military Geographical Institute “General Stevan Bošković” and a PhD student at the Faculty of Geography, University of Belgrade. His research interests include GIS, spatial analysis and photogrammetry.
e-mail: zoran.krickovic@vs.rs, ORCID:0009-0006-1509-5008

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Marković, Slobodan B.

Slobodan B. Marković is a Full Professor at the Department of Geography, Tourism and Hotel Management, University of Novi Sad. He has been a corresponding member of the Serbian Academy of Sciences and Arts since 2015. His research focuses on the investigation of loess-paleosol sequences, Quaternary stratigraphy, and the reconstruction of Quaternary climatic and environmental dynamics, as well as paleopedology, geomorphology, and hydrology. ORCID: 0000-0002-4977-634X
e-mail: slobodan.markovic@dgt.uns.ac.rs, ORCID: 0000-0002-4977-634X

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Stojšić-Milosavljević, Anastazija

Anastazija Stojšić Milosavljević is employed at the Institute for Cardiovascular Diseases of Vojvodina, at the Cardiology Clinic. He is a full professor at the Department of Internal Medicine, Faculty of Medicine, University of Novi Sad. She specialized in Internal Medicine and subspecialized in Cardiology in the field of heart muscle diseases. It was the first in the country to introduce trans pulmonary contrast echocardiography into routine use.
e-mail: anastazija.stojsic@mf.uns.ac.rs, ORCID: 0000-0003-2092-4289

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Cvetković, Vladimir M.

Vladimir M. Cvetković is a Professor in Disaster Risk Management at the University of Belgrade, Faculty of Security Studies. Engaged in disaster studies research for 15 years. Founder and President of the Society for Disaster Risk Management, Director of the International Institute for Disaster Research, and Editor-in-Chief of the International Journal of Disaster Risk Management. Visiting Professor at Technical University of Leoben, Safety and Disaster Man., Austria.
e-mail: vmc@fb.bg.ac.rs, ORCID: 0000-0002-3450-0658

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Lukić, Tin

Tin Lukić is a Full Professor at the Chair of Physical Geography at the Department of Geography, Tourism, and Hotel Management, Faculty of Sciences, University of Novi Sad. He is also engaged at the Faculty of Geography, University of Belgrade and the International Private School Rudjer Bošković. His research is focused on the investigation of physical geography, geomorphology, natural hazards, climate change studies, and environmental science.
e-mail: tin.lukic@dgt.uns.ac.rs, ORCID: 0000-0001-5398-0928

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Cite this article

Kričković, Emina; Kričković, Zoran; Marković, Slobodan B.; Stojšić-Milosavljević, Anastazija; Cvetković, Vladimir M.; and Lukić, Tin
"Education and Cardiovascular Diseases: A Case Study of Patients at the Institute Of Cardiovascular Diseases of Vojvodina
(Northern Serbia)",
IPSI Transactions on Internet Research, vol. 22(3), pp. 46-60, 2026. https://doi.org/10.58245/ipsi.tir.2603.06