Life-course socioeconomic position, area deprivation, and coronary heart disease: findings from the British Women's Heart and Health Study.

Debbie A Lawlor; George Davey Smith; Rita Patel; Shah Ebrahim; (2005) Life-course socioeconomic position, area deprivation, and coronary heart disease: findings from the British Women's Heart and Health Study. American journal of public health, 95 (1). pp. 91-97. ISSN 0090-0036 DOI: 10.2105/AJPH.2003.035592

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OBJECTIVES: We sought to determine whether residential area deprivation, over and above the effect of life-course socioeconomic status or position (SEP), is associated with coronary heart disease. METHODS: We conducted a cross-sectional analysis of 4286 women aged 60 to 79 years from 457 British electoral wards. RESULTS: After adjustment for age and 10 indicators of individual life-course SEP, the odds of coronary heart disease was 27% greater among those living in wards with a deprivation score above the median compared with those living in a ward with a deprivation score equal to or below the median (odds ratio=1.27; 95% confidence interval=1.02, 1.57). CONCLUSIONS: Adverse area-level socioeconomic characteristics, over and above individual life-course SEP, are associated with increased coronary heart disease.