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Lower socioeconomic status may lead to thicker artery walls in children
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Lower socioeconomic status in early childhood was associated with an increase in carotid intima-media thickness at age 11 to 12 years, according to recent findings.
“We know that socioeconomically disadvantaged people are at greater risk of health problems, including more [CVD] earlier in life, and we also know that atherosclerosis is a lifelong process that starts in childhood,” David P. Burgner, PhD, senior fellow at Murdoch Children’s Research Institute in Melbourne, Australia, said in a press release. “For this study, we wanted to determine if there is an association between socioeconomic position and the thickness of the carotid artery wall in mid-childhood.”
Burgner and colleagues analyzed data about family and neighborhood socioeconomic position of 1,477 Australian families from the Longitudinal Study of Australian Children. The children’s right carotid artery was imaged and maximum carotid intima-media thickness was measured from age 11 to 12 years.
Children whose family socioeconomic position was categorized as the most disadvantaged (in the bottom quartile) at age 11 to 12 years were 46% more likely to have carotid measurement in the 75th percentile, according to the researchers.
Between the highest and lowest family socioeconomic position quartile at age 11 to 12 years, the difference in maximum carotid intima-media thickness was 10.7 m (95% CI, 3.4-18), after adjustment for age, sex, pubertal status, passive smoking exposure, BMI, BP and arterial lumen diameter.
Associations were seen between family socioeconomic position as early as age 2 to 3 years and maximum carotid intima-media thickness at age 11 to 12 years (difference between highest and lowest quartile, 8.5 m; 95% CI, 1.3-15.8).
No associations were observed between mean carotid thickness and socioeconomic status.
“This doesn’t mean that body weight and [BP] aren’t important — they are — but there appear to be additional factors that contribute to [CVD] risk beyond the traditional factors,” Burgner said in the release. “So, there may be multiple opportunities for early intervention to prevent [CVD].” – by Cassie Homer
Disclosures: The authors report no relevant financial disclosures.
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