Economic inequalities lead to disparities in cardiovascular disease rates

A patient’s socioeconomic status as a child may not be found in any chart—but a recent study showed how it can impact development of the heart.

Researchers from the University of Turku in Finland, led by Tomi Laitinen, MD, PhD, found that childhood socioeconomic inequalities lead to differences in left ventricular mass and diastolic function in adulthood. The study was published June 26 in JAMA Pediatrics.

The study used data from the Cardiovascular Risk in Young Finns Study, which collected socioeconomic information on 1,871 participants in 1980 and 2011. Individuals were then examined for left ventricular mass and diastolic function, both measurements can be a predictor for heart failure, according to the researchers.

Family socioeconomic status was inversely associated with left ventricle mass and diastolic performance.

LV mass was 31.8 g/m^2.7, 31.0 g/m^2.7 and 30.1 g/m^2.7 in the low, medium and high socioeconomic status groups, respectively.

The E/e’ ratio (measuring left ventricle diastolic performance) was 5, 4.9 and 4.7 in the low, medium and high socioeconomic status groups, respectively.

“Low family [socioeconomic status] in childhood, after adjustment for conventional CVD risk factors in childhood and adulthood, was associated with increased left ventricle mass and poorer diastolic performance three decades later in adulthood,” Laitinen et al. wrote. “These findings further emphasize that approaches of cardiovascular disease prevention must be directed also to the family environment of the developing child. Particularly, support for families with low socioeconomic status may pay off in sustaining cardiovascular health to later life.”

Authors noted a few limitations on the study, including the racial homogeneity of the study subjects, meaning the results are generalizable only to white populations.