Low Socioeconomic Status is Associated with Greater Cardiovascular Risk in Guadeloupe

Rita Buckley

doi:10.1177/155989771212004

Summary

Low socioeconomic status is associated with large increases in cardiovascular disease risk in men and women [Clark AM et al. Nat Rev Cardiol 2009]. This article presents results from CONSTANT, a cross-sectional study to assess the relationship between socioeconomic factors and the expression of multiple cardiovascular risk factors in an adult Caribbean population.

Cardiology Clinical Trials
Prevention & Screening

Low socioeconomic status is associated with large increases in cardiovascular disease (CVD) risk in men and women [Clark AM et al. Nat Rev Cardiol 2009]. Victor Atallah, MD, Reseau HTA-GWAD, Gourbeyre, CHU de Pointe à Pitre, Guadeloupe, France, presented results from CONSTANT, a cross-sectional study to assess the relationship between socioeconomic factors and the expression of multiple cardiovascular (CV) risk factors in an adult Caribbean population.

CONSTANT was carried out in 2007 on a representative sample of the adult Guadeloupian population. It included 1005 subjects (46% men) aged 25 to 74 years selected via stratified random sampling. The expression of multiple CV risk factors was defined by the presence of >3 risk factors in 1 individual. These included hypertension, diabetes and dyslipidemia, abdominal obesity, and tobacco use.

The diagnosis of hypertension was based on 2 consultations during which the blood pressure was assessed 6 times. Abdominal obesity was a measured waist circumference of ≥102 cm for men or ≥88 cm for women. Dyslipidemia and diabetes were based on declared treatment during face-to-face interviews conducted at respondents' homes by trained investigators working in pairs.

Subjects were recruited from May 2006 to December 2007. Nearly 80% were younger than 55 years; 23.4% had <6 years of schooling; 8.4% to 10% were welfare recipients. Of the men, 7% had 3 or more risk factors versus 10.6% of women (Table 1).

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Table 1.

Distribution of CV Risk Factors Among Men and Women.

Among those <55 years, 20% with an elementary school education had 3 or more CV risk factors versus 2.7% of those with a secondary education level or higher. For that same age group, 10.6% of welfare recipients had 3 or more risk factors versus 3.5% of higher income individuals. Odds ratios of having 3 or more risk factors were estimated at 4.00 (p=0.004) for those with <6 years of education; they were 2.91 (p=0.033) for subjects who were welfare recipients (Table 2). Thus, in Guadeloupe, lower socioeconomic status, including lower levels of education and income, were associated with a greater burden of CV risk factors.

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Table 2.

The Relationship between Expression of Multiple CV Risk Factors and Socioeconomic Status.

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