Educational class inequalities in the incidence of coronary heart disease in Europe

Giovanni Veronesi; Marco M. Ferrario; Kari Kuulasmaa; Martin Bobak; Lloyd E. Chambless; Veikko Salomaa; Stefan Soderberg; Andrzej Pajak; Torben Jørgensen; Philippe Amouyel; Dominique Arveiler; Wojciech Drygas; Jean Ferrieres; Simona Giampaoli; Frank Kee; Licia Iacoviello; Sofia Malyutina; Annette Peters; Abdonas Tamosiunas; Hugh Tunstall-Pedoe; Giancarlo Cesana

doi:10.1136/heartjnl-2015-308909

Educational class inequalities in the incidence of coronary heart disease in Europe

Giovanni Veronesi, Marco M. Ferrario (Lead / Corresponding author), Kari Kuulasmaa, Martin Bobak, Lloyd E. Chambless, Veikko Salomaa, Stefan Soderberg, Andrzej Pajak, Torben Jørgensen, Philippe Amouyel, Dominique Arveiler, Wojciech Drygas, Jean Ferrieres, Simona Giampaoli, Frank Kee, Licia Iacoviello, Sofia Malyutina, Annette Peters, Abdonas Tamosiunas, Hugh Tunstall-PedoeGiancarlo Cesana

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Abstract

Objective To estimate the burden of social inequalities in coronary heart disease (CHD) and to identify their major determinants in 15 European populations.

Methods The MORGAM (MOnica Risk, Genetics, Archiving and Monograph) study comprised 49 cohorts of middle-aged European adults free of CHD (110 928 individuals) recruited mostly in the mid-1980s and 1990s, with comparable assessment of baseline risk and follow-up procedures. We derived three educational classes accounting for birth cohorts and used regressionbased inequality measures of absolute differences in CHD rates and HRs (ie, Relative Index of Inequality, RII) for the least versus the most educated individuals.

Results N=6522 first CHD events occurred during a median follow-up of 12 years. Educational class inequalities accounted for 343 and 170 additional CHD events per 100 000 person-years in the least educated men and women compared with the most educated, respectively. These figures corresponded to 48% and 71% of the average event rates in each gender group. Inequalities in CHD mortality were mainly driven by incidence in the Nordic countries, Scotland and Lithuania, and by 28-day case-fatality in the remaining central/South European populations. The pooled RIIs were 1.6 (95% CI 1.4 to 1.8) in men and 2.0 (1.7 to 2.4) in women, consistently across population. Risk factors accounted for a third of inequalities in CHD incidence; smoking was the major mediator in men, and High-Density-Lipoprotein (HDL) cholesterol in women.

Conclusions Social inequalities in CHD are still widespread in Europe. Since the major determinants of inequalities followed geographical and gender-specific patterns, European-level interventions should be tailored across different European regions.

Original language	English
Pages (from-to)	958-965
Number of pages	8
Journal	Heart
Volume	102
Issue number	12
Early online date	5 Feb 2016
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1136/heartjnl-2015-308909
Publication status	Published - 15 Jun 2016

ASJC Scopus subject areas

Cardiology and Cardiovascular Medicine

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Veronesi, G., Ferrario, M. M., Kuulasmaa, K., Bobak, M., Chambless, L. E., Salomaa, V., Soderberg, S., Pajak, A., Jørgensen, T., Amouyel, P., Arveiler, D., Drygas, W., Ferrieres, J., Giampaoli, S., Kee, F., Iacoviello, L., Malyutina, S., Peters, A., Tamosiunas, A., ... Cesana, G. (2016). Educational class inequalities in the incidence of coronary heart disease in Europe. Heart, 102(12), 958-965. https://doi.org/10.1136/heartjnl-2015-308909

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title = "Educational class inequalities in the incidence of coronary heart disease in Europe",

abstract = "Objective To estimate the burden of social inequalities in coronary heart disease (CHD) and to identify their major determinants in 15 European populations. Methods The MORGAM (MOnica Risk, Genetics, Archiving and Monograph) study comprised 49 cohorts of middle-aged European adults free of CHD (110 928 individuals) recruited mostly in the mid-1980s and 1990s, with comparable assessment of baseline risk and follow-up procedures. We derived three educational classes accounting for birth cohorts and used regressionbased inequality measures of absolute differences in CHD rates and HRs (ie, Relative Index of Inequality, RII) for the least versus the most educated individuals. Results N=6522 first CHD events occurred during a median follow-up of 12 years. Educational class inequalities accounted for 343 and 170 additional CHD events per 100 000 person-years in the least educated men and women compared with the most educated, respectively. These figures corresponded to 48% and 71% of the average event rates in each gender group. Inequalities in CHD mortality were mainly driven by incidence in the Nordic countries, Scotland and Lithuania, and by 28-day case-fatality in the remaining central/South European populations. The pooled RIIs were 1.6 (95% CI 1.4 to 1.8) in men and 2.0 (1.7 to 2.4) in women, consistently across population. Risk factors accounted for a third of inequalities in CHD incidence; smoking was the major mediator in men, and High-Density-Lipoprotein (HDL) cholesterol in women. Conclusions Social inequalities in CHD are still widespread in Europe. Since the major determinants of inequalities followed geographical and gender-specific patterns, European-level interventions should be tailored across different European regions.",

author = "Giovanni Veronesi and Ferrario, {Marco M.} and Kari Kuulasmaa and Martin Bobak and Chambless, {Lloyd E.} and Veikko Salomaa and Stefan Soderberg and Andrzej Pajak and Torben J{\o}rgensen and Philippe Amouyel and Dominique Arveiler and Wojciech Drygas and Jean Ferrieres and Simona Giampaoli and Frank Kee and Licia Iacoviello and Sofia Malyutina and Annette Peters and Abdonas Tamosiunas and Hugh Tunstall-Pedoe and Giancarlo Cesana",

year = "2016",

month = jun,

day = "15",

doi = "10.1136/heartjnl-2015-308909",

language = "English",

volume = "102",

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journal = "Heart",

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Veronesi, G, Ferrario, MM, Kuulasmaa, K, Bobak, M, Chambless, LE, Salomaa, V, Soderberg, S, Pajak, A, Jørgensen, T, Amouyel, P, Arveiler, D, Drygas, W, Ferrieres, J, Giampaoli, S, Kee, F, Iacoviello, L, Malyutina, S, Peters, A, Tamosiunas, A, Tunstall-Pedoe, H & Cesana, G 2016, 'Educational class inequalities in the incidence of coronary heart disease in Europe', Heart, vol. 102, no. 12, pp. 958-965. https://doi.org/10.1136/heartjnl-2015-308909

TY - JOUR

T1 - Educational class inequalities in the incidence of coronary heart disease in Europe

AU - Veronesi, Giovanni

AU - Ferrario, Marco M.

AU - Kuulasmaa, Kari

AU - Bobak, Martin

AU - Chambless, Lloyd E.

AU - Salomaa, Veikko

AU - Soderberg, Stefan

AU - Pajak, Andrzej

AU - Jørgensen, Torben

AU - Amouyel, Philippe

AU - Arveiler, Dominique

AU - Drygas, Wojciech

AU - Ferrieres, Jean

AU - Giampaoli, Simona

AU - Kee, Frank

AU - Iacoviello, Licia

AU - Malyutina, Sofia

AU - Peters, Annette

AU - Tamosiunas, Abdonas

AU - Tunstall-Pedoe, Hugh

AU - Cesana, Giancarlo

PY - 2016/6/15

Y1 - 2016/6/15

N2 - Objective To estimate the burden of social inequalities in coronary heart disease (CHD) and to identify their major determinants in 15 European populations. Methods The MORGAM (MOnica Risk, Genetics, Archiving and Monograph) study comprised 49 cohorts of middle-aged European adults free of CHD (110 928 individuals) recruited mostly in the mid-1980s and 1990s, with comparable assessment of baseline risk and follow-up procedures. We derived three educational classes accounting for birth cohorts and used regressionbased inequality measures of absolute differences in CHD rates and HRs (ie, Relative Index of Inequality, RII) for the least versus the most educated individuals. Results N=6522 first CHD events occurred during a median follow-up of 12 years. Educational class inequalities accounted for 343 and 170 additional CHD events per 100 000 person-years in the least educated men and women compared with the most educated, respectively. These figures corresponded to 48% and 71% of the average event rates in each gender group. Inequalities in CHD mortality were mainly driven by incidence in the Nordic countries, Scotland and Lithuania, and by 28-day case-fatality in the remaining central/South European populations. The pooled RIIs were 1.6 (95% CI 1.4 to 1.8) in men and 2.0 (1.7 to 2.4) in women, consistently across population. Risk factors accounted for a third of inequalities in CHD incidence; smoking was the major mediator in men, and High-Density-Lipoprotein (HDL) cholesterol in women. Conclusions Social inequalities in CHD are still widespread in Europe. Since the major determinants of inequalities followed geographical and gender-specific patterns, European-level interventions should be tailored across different European regions.

AB - Objective To estimate the burden of social inequalities in coronary heart disease (CHD) and to identify their major determinants in 15 European populations. Methods The MORGAM (MOnica Risk, Genetics, Archiving and Monograph) study comprised 49 cohorts of middle-aged European adults free of CHD (110 928 individuals) recruited mostly in the mid-1980s and 1990s, with comparable assessment of baseline risk and follow-up procedures. We derived three educational classes accounting for birth cohorts and used regressionbased inequality measures of absolute differences in CHD rates and HRs (ie, Relative Index of Inequality, RII) for the least versus the most educated individuals. Results N=6522 first CHD events occurred during a median follow-up of 12 years. Educational class inequalities accounted for 343 and 170 additional CHD events per 100 000 person-years in the least educated men and women compared with the most educated, respectively. These figures corresponded to 48% and 71% of the average event rates in each gender group. Inequalities in CHD mortality were mainly driven by incidence in the Nordic countries, Scotland and Lithuania, and by 28-day case-fatality in the remaining central/South European populations. The pooled RIIs were 1.6 (95% CI 1.4 to 1.8) in men and 2.0 (1.7 to 2.4) in women, consistently across population. Risk factors accounted for a third of inequalities in CHD incidence; smoking was the major mediator in men, and High-Density-Lipoprotein (HDL) cholesterol in women. Conclusions Social inequalities in CHD are still widespread in Europe. Since the major determinants of inequalities followed geographical and gender-specific patterns, European-level interventions should be tailored across different European regions.

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DO - 10.1136/heartjnl-2015-308909

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AN - SCOPUS:84958092621

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VL - 102

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JO - Heart

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ER -

Educational class inequalities in the incidence of coronary heart disease in Europe

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