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. 2017 Aug 21;7(8):e014402.
doi: 10.1136/bmjopen-2016-014402.

Socioeconomic status and prevalence of chronic non-communicable diseases in Chinese women: a structural equation modelling approach

Hui Yin  1 , Qunhong Wu  2 , Yu Cui  2 , Yanhua Hao  2 , Chaojie Liu  3 , Ye Li  2 , Libo Liang  2 , Limin Wang  1 , Yuchun Tao  1
Affiliations

Socioeconomic status and prevalence of chronic non-communicable diseases in Chinese women: a structural equation modelling approach

Hui Yin et al. BMJ Open. .

Abstract

Objective: To investigate the role of socioeconomic status (SES) in chronic non-communicable diseases (NCDs) and offer theoretical evidence for the prevention and control of NCDs.

Design: Cross-sectional survey and structural equation modelling.

Setting: Nationwide, China.

Participants: Female participants in the 2008 National Health Services Survey in China who were 15 years and older.

Results: SES factors were associated with the increased risk of NCDs in Chinese women. Education was identified as the most important factor with a protective role (factor loading=-0.115) for NCDs. Income mainly affected NCDs directly, whereas occupation mainly affected NCDs indirectly. The effects of SES on NCDs were more significant than that of smoking. Medical insurance, smoking and self-reported health played a mediating role in the correlations between those SES factors and NCDs.

Conclusions: In China, socioeconomic disparities associated with the prevalence of NCDs exist among women. Educational and social interventions are needed to mitigate their negative consequences on health outcomes in Chinese women.

Keywords: Internal medicine; Public health; Social medicine.

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Conflict of interest statement

Competing interests: None declared.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Base structural equation modelling model. This is the base model describing the complex relationships between all variables. Here, ‘X→Y’ means X influenced Y. NCDs, non-communicable diseases.
Figure 2
Figure 2
Structural equation modelling (SEM) model D. This is the SEM model D with best fit, which describes the mechanisms involved in the relationships between SES and non-communicable diseases (NCDs) including their direction and size. ‘X→Y’ means X influenced Y. The numbers above the ‘→’ are standardised regression weights. ***p<0.001(two-tailed test).
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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