Skip to main content
NCBI home page
Journal of Epidemiology and Community Health logoLink to Journal of Epidemiology and Community Health
. 2000 Sep;54(9):692–696. doi: 10.1136/jech.54.9.692

Changes in cardiovascular risk factors in different socioeconomic groups: seven year trends in a Chinese urban population

Z Yu 1, A Nissinen 1, E Vartiainen 1, G Song 1, Z Guo 1, H Tian 1
PMCID: PMC1731753  PMID: 10942449

Abstract

STUDY OBJECTIVE—To analyse trends in socioeconomic differences in cardiovascular disease risk factors among an urban Chinese population using educational attainment as the socioeconomic indicator.
DESIGN—Population surveys with randomly selected independent samples were carried out in 1989 and in 1996. Educational attainment, blood pressure, body mass index, cigarette smoking and lack of leisure time physical activity were determined.
SETTING—Urban areas of the city of Tianjin, China.
PARTICIPANTS—A total of 14 275 respondents aged 25-64 years.
MAIN RESULTS—Diastolic blood pressure increased and the proportion of people without leisure time physical activity decreased in both sexes during the study period. The prevalence of smoking and the number of cigarettes smoked daily increased significantly among men. Smoking decreased in the least educated men and increased in those who had studied at least to college level. Body mass index decreased across all educational strata in women, but blood pressure increased in women with at least college level education.
CONCLUSIONS—These data reveal a different picture in trends in the association of education and cardiovascular risk factors from those depicted in developed countries. This highlights the need for an effective intervention programme in the study population.


Keywords: trends; socioeconomic status; cardiovascular disease risk factor

Full Text

The Full Text of this article is available as a PDF (147.0 KB).

Selected References

These references are in PubMed. This may not be the complete list of references from this article.

  1. Bennett S. Cardiovascular risk factors in Australia: trends in socioeconomic inequalities. J Epidemiol Community Health. 1995 Aug;49(4):363–372. doi: 10.1136/jech.49.4.363. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  2. Berrios X., Koponen T., Huiguang T., Khaltaev N., Puska P., Nissinen A. Distribution and prevalence of major risk factors of noncommunicable diseases in selected countries: the WHO Inter-Health Programme. Bull World Health Organ. 1997;75(2):99–108. [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  3. Bunker C. H., Ukoli F. A., Nwankwo M. U., Omene J. A., Currier G. W., Holifield-Kennedy L., Freeman D. T., Vergis E. N., Yeh L. L., Kuller L. H. Factors associated with hypertension in Nigerian civil servants. Prev Med. 1992 Nov;21(6):710–722. doi: 10.1016/0091-7435(92)90078-v. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  4. Fox R. Trends in cardiovascular mortality in Europe. Circulation. 1997 Dec 2;96(11):3817–3817. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  5. Garrison R. J., Gold R. S., Wilson P. W., Kannel W. B. Educational attainment and coronary heart disease risk: the Framingham Offspring Study. Prev Med. 1993 Jan;22(1):54–64. doi: 10.1006/pmed.1993.1004. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  6. Gupta R., Gupta V. P., Ahluwalia N. S. Educational status, coronary heart disease, and coronary risk factor prevalence in a rural population of India. BMJ. 1994 Nov 19;309(6965):1332–1336. doi: 10.1136/bmj.309.6965.1332. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  7. Iribarren C., Luepker R. V., McGovern P. G., Arnett D. K., Blackburn H. Twelve-year trends in cardiovascular disease risk factors in the Minnesota Heart Survey. Are socioeconomic differences widening? Arch Intern Med. 1997 Apr 28;157(8):873–881. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  8. Kaplan G. A., Keil J. E. Socioeconomic factors and cardiovascular disease: a review of the literature. Circulation. 1993 Oct;88(4 Pt 1):1973–1998. doi: 10.1161/01.cir.88.4.1973. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  9. Kawachi I., Marmot M. G. Commentary: what can we learn from studies of occupational class and cardiovascular disease? Am J Epidemiol. 1998 Jul 15;148(2):160–163. doi: 10.1093/oxfordjournals.aje.a009619. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  10. Marmot M. G., McDowall M. E. Mortality decline and widening social inequalities. Lancet. 1986 Aug 2;2(8501):274–276. doi: 10.1016/s0140-6736(86)92085-4. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  11. Matthews K. A., Kelsey S. F., Meilahn E. N., Kuller L. H., Wing R. R. Educational attainment and behavioral and biologic risk factors for coronary heart disease in middle-aged women. Am J Epidemiol. 1989 Jun;129(6):1132–1144. doi: 10.1093/oxfordjournals.aje.a115235. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  12. Morgenstern H. The changing association between social status and coronary heart disease in a rural population. Soc Sci Med Med Psychol Med Sociol. 1980 May;14A(3):191–201. doi: 10.1016/0160-7979(80)90084-3. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  13. Pekkanen J., Uutela A., Valkonen T., Vartiainen E., Tuomilehto J., Puska P. Coronary risk factor levels: differences between educational groups in 1972-87 in eastern Finland. J Epidemiol Community Health. 1995 Apr;49(2):144–149. doi: 10.1136/jech.49.2.144. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  14. Pereira M. A., Kriska A. M., Collins V. R., Dowse G. K., Tuomilehto J., Alberti K. G., Gareeboo H., Hemraj F., Purran A., Fareed D. Occupational status and cardiovascular disease risk factors in the rapidly developing, high-risk population of Mauritius. Am J Epidemiol. 1998 Jul 15;148(2):148–159. doi: 10.1093/oxfordjournals.aje.a009618. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  15. Rossouw J. E., Jooste P. L., Steenkamp H. J., Thompson M. L., Jordaan P. C., Swanepoel A. S. Socio-economic status, risk factors and coronary heart disease. The CORIS baseline study. S Afr Med J. 1990 Jul 21;78(2):82–85. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  16. Siegrist J., Bernhardt R., Feng Z. C., Schettler G. Socioeconomic differences in cardiovascular risk factors in China. Int J Epidemiol. 1990 Dec;19(4):905–910. doi: 10.1093/ije/19.4.905. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  17. Singh R. B., Sharma J. P., Rastogi V., Niaz M. A., Singh N. K. Prevalence and determinants of hypertension in the Indian social class and heart survey. J Hum Hypertens. 1997 Jan;11(1):51–56. doi: 10.1038/sj.jhh.1000384. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  18. Sorlie P. D., García-Palmieri M. R. Educational status and coronary heart disease in Puerto Rico: the Puerto Rico Heart Health Program. Int J Epidemiol. 1990 Mar;19(1):59–65. doi: 10.1093/ije/19.1.59. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  19. Tao S. C., Huang Z. D., Wu X. G., Zhou B. F., Xiao Z. K., Hao J. S., Li Y. H., Cen R. C., Rao X. X. CHD and its risk factors in the People's Republic of China. Int J Epidemiol. 1989;18(3 Suppl 1):S159–S163. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  20. Tian H. G., Hu G., Dong Q. N., Yang X. L., Nan Y., Pietinen P., Nissinen A. Dietary sodium and potassium, socioeconomic status and blood pressure in a Chinese population. Appetite. 1996 Jun;26(3):235–246. doi: 10.1006/appe.1996.0018. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  21. Winkleby M. A., Fortmann S. P., Barrett D. C. Social class disparities in risk factors for disease: eight-year prevalence patterns by level of education. Prev Med. 1990 Jan;19(1):1–12. doi: 10.1016/0091-7435(90)90001-z. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  22. Winkleby M. A., Jatulis D. E., Frank E., Fortmann S. P. Socioeconomic status and health: how education, income, and occupation contribute to risk factors for cardiovascular disease. Am J Public Health. 1992 Jun;82(6):816–820. doi: 10.2105/ajph.82.6.816. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  23. Yu Z., Song G., Guo Z., Zheng G., Tian H., Vartiainen E., Puska P., Nissinen A. Changes in blood pressure, body mass index, and salt consumption in a Chinese population. Prev Med. 1999 Sep;29(3):165–172. doi: 10.1006/pmed.1999.0530. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]

Articles from Journal of Epidemiology and Community Health are provided here courtesy of BMJ Publishing Group

RESOURCES