Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2007 Apr;17(4):296-303.
doi: 10.1016/j.annepidem.2006.07.009. Epub 2006 Oct 5.

Cumulative socioeconomic status across the life course and subclinical atherosclerosis

April P Carson  1 , Kathryn M Rose, Diane J Catellier, Jay S Kaufman, Sharon B Wyatt, Ana V Diez-Roux, Gerardo Heiss
Affiliations

Cumulative socioeconomic status across the life course and subclinical atherosclerosis

April P Carson et al. Ann Epidemiol. 2007 Apr.

Abstract

Purpose: The purpose of this study is to investigate the relationship between individual-level and neighborhood-level socioeconomic status (SES) across the life course and subclinical atherosclerosis.

Methods: Participants from the Atherosclerosis Risk in Communities Study (n=12,332) were queried about individual-level SES and residential addresses across the life course. Individual-level measures were scored and summed to obtain a summary score (I-CumSES), whereas residential addresses were geocoded and linked to census data to obtain a summary neighborhood z score (N-CumSES) to evaluate the association of SES with intima-media thickness (IMT) and peripheral arterial disease (PAD).

Results: A 1-SD lower I-CumSES was associated with greater mean IMT in each race-sex group and greater odds of PAD in white men (odds ratio [OR], 1.28; 95% confidence interval [CI], 0.99-1.64), white women (OR, 1.18; 95% CI, 1.02-1.36), and black women (OR, 1.33; 95% CI, 1.00-1.76). Compared with the highest tertile of N-CumSES, the lowest tertile was associated with greater mean IMT among whites, but was not associated with PAD for whites or blacks. When I-CumSES and N-CumSES were considered simultaneously, associations remained for only I-CumSES and were attenuated after adjustment for cardiovascular disease (CVD) risk factors.

Conclusions: Lower cumulative individual-level SES across the life course was associated with a greater burden of subclinical atherosclerosis, and this association was mediated in part by CVD risk factors.

PubMed Disclaimer

Publication types