Socioeconomic Status, Cardiovascular Risk Profile, and Premature Coronary Heart Disease

Background: The combined influence of traditional cardiovascular risk factors and socioeconomic status (SES) on premature CHD (<65 years) remains understudied.

Methods: We used the National Health Interview Survey (NHIS) database (2012-2018) to examine the association of sociodemographic (income, education, insurance status) and cardiovascular risk profile (CRF: ranging from optimal (0-1 risk CV factor) to poor (≥4 risk CV factors)) with CHD in young (18- 44 years) and middle-aged (45-64 years) adults.

Results: Among the 168,969 included adults (young: 46.6%), the prevalence of CHD was 3%, translating to 6.4 million young and middle-aged adults. Adults with low family income, lesser education and no insurance were more likely to have CHD. While majority of young adults (65%) had optimal CRF profile and only 4% had poor CRF profile, 26% of middle-aged adults carried poor CRF profile. When examined by income status, education, and insurance status, odds of CHD were increased with worsening CRF profile. In multivariate regressions, low income participants who had a poor CRF (reference: optimal CRF) had higher odds of CHD in both young (aOR: 9.12 [95% CI, 6.16-13.50]) and middle-aged adults (aOR: 8.22 [95% CI, 6.12-11.05]). Within participants with a high school education or lower, those with a poor CRF profile (reference: optimal CRF) had increased odds of CHD in young (aOR: 10.35 [95% CI, 6.66-16.11]) and middle-aged adults (aOR: 10.40 [95% CI, 7.91-13.66]). In the uninsured, those with a poor CRF profile (reference: optimal CRF) had an 8-9 fold increased odds of CHD in young (aOR: 7.65 [95% CI, 4.26-13.73]) and middle-aged adults (aOR: 9.34 [95% CI, 5.90-14.79]).

Conclusions: In this national survey, individuals with poor CRF profile had higher odds of premature CHD than those with optimal profile, and burden of CHD increased with worsening of CRF profile.