PLoS ONE (Jan 2013)

Gender differences in the association between socioeconomic status and subclinical atherosclerosis.

  • Olivier Grimaud,
  • Annabelle Lapostolle,
  • Claudine Berr,
  • Catherine Helmer,
  • Carole Dufouil,
  • Wahida Kihal,
  • Annick Alpérovitch,
  • Pierre Chauvin

DOI
https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0080195
Journal volume & issue
Vol. 8, no. 11
p. e80195

Abstract

Read online

OBJECTIVES: This study explored the pattern of associations between socioeconomic status (SES) and atherosclerosis progression (as indicated by carotid intima media thickness, CIMT) across gender. DESIGN: Cross-sectional analysis of a sample of 5474 older persons (mean age 73 years) recruited between 1999 and 2001 in the 3C study (France). We fitted linear regression models including neighborhood SES, individual SES and cardiovascular risk factors. RESULTS: CIMT was on average 24 µm higher in men (95% CI: 17 to 31). Neighborhood SES was inversely associated with CIMT in women only (highest versus lowest tertiles: -12.2 µm, 95%CI -22 to -2.4). This association persisted when individual SES and risk factors were accounted for. High individual education was associated with lower CIMT in men (-21.4 µm 95%CI -37.5 to -5.3) whereas high professional status was linked to lower CIMT among women (-15.7 µm 95%CI: -29.2 to -2.2). Adjustment for cardiovascular risk factors resulted in a slightly more pronounced reduction of the individual SES-CIMT association observed in men than in women. CONCLUSION: In this sample, neighborhood and individual SES displayed different patterns of associations with subclinical atherosclerosis across gender. This suggests that the causal pathways leading to SES variations in atherosclerosis may differ among men and women.