It’s no secret that Americans are not all equal when it comes to income. A new study in JAMA Cardiology shows that these income disparities are related to the risk of heart disease.
How Does Income Relate to Heart Disease Risk?
Scientists analyzed data from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey between 1999 and 2014. More than 17,000 adults participated in the study. The investigators reviewed findings on heart disease risk and risk factors, particularly blood pressure and smoking.
Heart Disease Rates Have Dropped, But Not for Poor People:
Those with incomes at or below the federal poverty level had no improvement in their cardiovascular risk over that time frame. But higher income adults saw significant drops in their overall cardiovascular risk, systolic blood pressure and smoking status.
Overall, heart disease in the US has declined over the past few decades. Public health experts will need to do a lot more, however, to extend the overall improvement to people living in poverty.
Odutayo et al, JAMA Cardiology, June 7, 2017
Income Disparities and Health:
This is not the first study to find that income disparities are bad for health. The New York Times ran a story (and a striking graphic) back in 2015. People with little money have limited access to health care, of course, but they also may live in food deserts or have no safe place to exercise. All of those factors could contribute to cardiovascular risk.
