Coronary heart disease risk factors and regional deprivation in England: does age matter?

摘要

SIR—The potential influence of regional deprivation in thendevelopment of coronary heart disease (CHD) has rarelynbeen addressed among the older population in England.nMost studies on geographical variations have focused onnmortality [1, 2] rather than morbidity or concentrated onlynon particular areas [3–5]. Inequalities in CHD by geographicalnregions or area of residence are well recognised [6–8].nGiven that the risk of CHD increases with age [9, 10] andnthat the relationship between socioeconomic factors andnhealth varies among different age groups [11, 12], we separatelynexamined the associations of regional deprivation withnCHD risk factors accounting for individual measures of socialnposition and health behaviours in late middle age (52–65nyears) and older (>65years). The following biological CHDnrisk factors were used: body mass index (BMI), waist–hipnratio (WHR), systolic blood pressure, high-density lipoproteinn(HDL) cholesterol and triglycerides.