Significance of Socio-Economic Status in Cardiovascular Risk Profile

The aim of this study was to establish the relationship between key socioeconomic factors (education, professional employment, and marital status) and cardiovascular risk factors (type II diabetes, hypertension, excess body weight, smoking, and physical inactivity). Subjects and Methods. The study included 3,674 patients with coronary heart disease who underwent coronary bypass surgery on a beating heart. The average age of the participants was 60.6 ± 0.8 years. Data for analysis were obtained from patient medical histories, anamnesis records, and results of general clinical and laboratory examinations. The relationship between education, professional employment, and marital status with cardiovascular risk factors was evaluated using odds ratio (OR) and relative risk (RR) calculations. Results. The analysis revealed that 18.8% of patients with coronary heart disease were single, while 81.2% were married or in a family relationship (p = 0.0001). Among these patients, 41.2% were professionally employed, whereas 58.8% were unemployed (p = 0.4). Higher education was the most common, accounting for 76.5% of cases, followed by vocational and technical education at 20.3%, and general secondary education at 3.2%. The analysis of the associative relationship between education, occupation, family status, and cardiovascular factors revealed notable findings. Among single individuals with coronary heart disease, associations are observed with obesity (p = 0.08) and smoking (p = 0.0001, χ² = 121.16). Those, who are married or in a family relationship, show significant relationships with excess body weight (p = 0.0003, χ² = 21.59), hypodynamia (p = 0.06, χ² = 3.46), arterial hypertension (p = 0.05, χ² = 7.60), and type II diabetes (p = 0.04, χ² = 4.28). In individuals with higher education, associations are identified with excess body weight (p = 0.0001, χ² = 28.41), hypodynamia (p = 0.2), and smoking (p = 0.0001, χ² = 32.90). Among professionally employed individuals, increased risks were noted for smoking (p = 0.003, χ² = 8.49), arterial hypertension (p = 0.0001, χ² = 25.67), and type II diabetes (p = 0.07, χ² = 3.16). Conclusions. The study demonstrates that individuals with a favorable socioeconomic status (married, higher education, and professional employment) have an increased risk of cardiovascular factors such as excess body weight, hypodynamia, arterial hypertension, and type II diabetes. In contrast, those with lower socioeconomic opportunities (single status, unemployment, or vocational/secondary education) were found to have an increased risk of obesity and smoking.