socioeconomic inequalities in the prevalence of nine established cardiovascular risk factors in a southern european population社会经济不平等在九建立心血管危险因素的流行在欧洲南部的人口.pdf

Socioeconomic Inequalities in the Prevalence of Nine Established Cardiovascular Risk Factors in a Southern European Population ´ 1,2,3 1,2 1,2 1,2 Luıs Alves *, Ana Azevedo , Susana Silva , Henrique Barros 1 Department of Clinical Epidemiology, Predictive Medicine and Public Health, University of Porto Medical School, Porto, Portugal, 2 Institute of Public Health - University ´ of Porto (ISPUP), Porto, Portugal, 3 Santo Andre de Canidelo Health Family Unit, Vila Nova de Gaia, Portugal Abstract The evaluation of the gender-specific prevalence of cardiovascular risk factors across socioeconomic position (SEP) categories may unravel mechanisms involved in the development of coronary heart disease. Using a sample of 1704 community dwellers of a Portuguese urban center aged 40 years or older, assessed in 1999–2003, we quantified the age- standardized prevalence of nine established cardiovascular risk factors (diabetes mellitus, hypertension, hypercholester- olemia, smoking, sedentariness, abdominal obesity, poor diet, excessive alcohol intake and depression) across SEP and gender categories. Data on individual education and occupation were collected by questionnaire and used to characterize SEP. The prevalence of seven out of nine well-established risk factors was higher in men. Among women, the prevalence of most of the studied risk factors was higher in lower SEP groups. The main exception was smoking, which increased with education and occupation levels. Among men, socioeconomic gradients were less clear, but lower SEP was associated with a higher prevalence of diabetes, excessive alcohol intake and depression in a graded mode. The historical cultu