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The factors that influence the socioeconomic position of individuals and groups within industrial societies also influence their health. Socioeconomic position has continuous and graded effects on health that are cumulative over a lifetime. The socioeconomic conditions of the places where persons live and work have an even more substantial influence on health than personal socioeconomic position. In the United States, educational attainment and income are the indicators that are most commonly used to measure the effect of socioeconomic position on health. Research indicates that substantial educational and income disparities exist across many measures of health. A previous report described the magnitude and patterns of absolute and relative measures of disparity in noncompletion of high school and poverty in 2005 and 2009. Notable disparities defined by race/ethnicity, socioeconomic factors, disability status, and geographic location were identified for 2005 and 2009, with no evidence of a temporal decrease in racial/ethnic disparities, whereas socioeconomic and disability disparities increased from 2005 to 2009.

Purpose: To examine whether socioeconomic status, as measured by educational attainment and annual household income, is associated with lifetime risk for workplace eye injury in a large US population., Methods: In analyses of data from the Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System (2005-2007, N = 43,510), we used logistic regression analysis and propensity score matching to assess associations between socioeconomic measures and lifetime risk for workplace eye injury among those aged ≥50 years., Results: The lifetime prevalence of self-reported workplace eye injury was significantly higher among men (13.5%) than women (2.6%) (P < 0.001). After adjusting for age, race/ethnicity, eye care insurance, health status, and risk-taking behaviors, men with less than high school education (adjusted odds ratio [OR] = 2.24, 95% CI: 1.74-2.87) or high school education (adjusted OR = 1.92, 95% CI: 1.57-2.33) were more likely to report having had a lifetime workplace eye injury than those with more than a high school education. Men with an annual household income <$15,000 were also more likely to report having had a lifetime workplace eye injury than those whose income was >$50,000 (adjusted OR = 1.44, 95% CI: 1.07-1.95). After adjusting for other factors, no statistically significant associations between education, income, and lifetime workplace eye injury were found among women., Conclusions: Socioeconomic status was associated with lifetime risk for workplace eye injury among men but not women. Greater public awareness of individual and societal impacts of workplace eye injuries, especially among socioeconomically disadvantaged men, could help support efforts to develop a coordinated prevention strategy to minimize avoidable workplace eye injuries.

Background: It is unknown whether the previously recognized disparities in cardiovascular disease (CVD) risk factors related to annual income and educational level have diminished, persisted, or worsened in recent decades. The objective of this study was to examine 31-year trends in CVD risk factors by annual income and educational levels among US adults., Methods: Four cross-sectional national surveys were used: National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey I (1971-1974), II (1976-1980), III (1988-1994), and 1999-2002. The main outcome measure was prevalence of high cholesterol (> or =240 mg/dL [> or =6.2 mmol/L]), high blood pressure (140/90 mm Hg), smoking, and diabetes mellitus., Results: Between 1971 and 2002, the prevalence of all CVD risk factors, except diabetes, decreased in all income and education groups, but there has been little reduction in income- and education-related disparities in CVD risk factors and few improvements during the past 10 years. The prevalence of high blood pressure declined by about half in all income and education groups, ranging from 30.3% to 40.6% in 1971-1974 and 16.4% in 1999-2002, with the greatest reduction among those in the lowest income quartile and those with less than a high school education (18.0 and 15.9 percentage points, respectively). High cholesterol prevalence also declined in all groups and ranged from 28.8% to 32.4% in 1971-1974 and 15.3% to 22.0% in 1999-2002, with the largest decline (15.9 percentage points) among people with the highest incomes. Education- and income-related disparities in smoking widened considerably, because there were large declines in smoking prevalence among people with high incomes and education (from about 33% in 1971-1974 to about 14%-17% in 1999-2002) but only marginal reductions among those with low incomes and education (about 6-percentage point decline). Diabetes prevalence increased most among persons with low incomes and education., Conclusions: Despite the general success in reducing CVD risk factors in the US population, not all segments of society are benefiting equally and improvements may have slowed. Education- and income-related disparities have worsened for smoking, and increases in diabetes prevalence have occurred primarily among persons with a lower socioeconomic status. Diabetes prevention and smoking prevention and cessation programs need to specifically target persons of lower income and education.

Objective: To investigate the association between socioeconomic position (SEP) and poor eye health among women. Materials and Methods: We included the 7,708 women aged ≥40 years who participated in the 2008 National Health Interview Survey. We defined poor eye health as self-reported age-related eye diseases (AREDs; cataract, glaucoma, macular degeneration, or diabetic retinopathy) or visual impairment (VI). We identified diagnosed diabetes by self-report. We measured SEP by education attained and annual household income. We conducted logistic regression analyses while controlling for demographic, clinical, behavioral, and healthcare access variables. Results: The age-standardized prevalence of VI and ARED was significantly higher among women with diagnosed diabetes than among those without diagnosed diabetes, 29.8% versus 14.4% and 34.1% versus 20.8%, respectively ( p < 0.05 for both). The prevalence of VI and ARED increased with decreasing SEP, but the trends were only significant among women without diabetes. After multivariable adjustment, education and income were significantly associated with VI but not with ARED. We found no interaction with diagnosed diabetes. Conclusions: SEP was inversely associated with VI but not with ARED. We found no interaction with diagnosed diabetes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objectives. We examined the relationship between socioeconomic position (SEP) and sensory impairment. Methods. We used data from the 2007 to 2010 National Health Interview Surveys (n = 69 845 adults). Multivariable logistic regressions estimated odds ratios (ORs) for associations of educational attainment, occupational class, and poverty-income ratio with impaired vision or hearing. Results. Nearly 20% of respondents reported sensory impairment. Each SEP indicator was negatively associated with sensory impairment. Adjusted odds of vision impairment were significantly higher for farm workers (OR = 1.41; 95% confidence interval [Cl] = 1.01, 2.02), people with some college (OR = 1.29; 95% Cl = 1.16, 1.44) or less than a high school diploma (OR = 1.36; 95% Cl = 1.19, 1.55), and people from poor (OR = 1.35; 95% Cl = 1.20, 1.52), low-income (OR = 1.28; 95% Cl = 1.14, 1.43), or middle-income (OR = 1.19; 95% Cl = 1.07, 1.31) families than for the highest-SEP group. Odds of hearing impairment were significantly higher for people with some college or less education than for those with a college degree or more; for service groups, farmers, and blue-collar workers than for white-collar workers; and for people in poor families. Conclusions. More research is needed to understand the SEP-sensory impairment association. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article aims to discuss and raise awareness regarding group differences in levels of poverty and noncompletion of high school and poverty, and to motivate actions to reduce health disparities. Topics discussed include the Current Population Survey (CPS), persistence of racial or ethnic socioeconomic and geographic disparities in noncompletion of high school and poverty in the country, and income and educational attainment.

OBJECTIVE--To assess the cardiovascular risk profile of youths across socioeconomic groups in the U.S. RESEARCH DESIGN AND METHODS--Analysis of 1999-2008 National Health and Nutrition Examination Surveys (NHANES) including 16,085 nonpregnant 6- to 24-year-olds to estimate race/ethnicity-adjusted prevalence of obesity, central obesity, sedentary behaviors, tobacco exposure, elevated systolic blood pressure, glycated hemoglobin, non-HDL cholesterol (non-HDL-C), and high-sensitivity C-reactive protein according to age-group, sex, and poverty-income ratio (PIR) tertiles. RESULTS--Among boys aged 6-11 years, 19.9% in the lowest PIR tertile were obese and 30.0% were centrally obese compared with 13.2 and 21.6%, respectively, in the highest-income tertile households (Pobesity < 0.05 and Pcentral obesity < 0.01). Boys aged 12-17 years in lowest-income households were more likely than their wealthiest family peers to be obese (20.6 vs. 15.6%, P < 0.05), sedentary (14.8 vs. 9.3%, P < 0.05), and exposed to tobacco (19.0 vs. 6.5%, P < 0.01). Compared with girls aged 12-17 years in highest-income households, lowest-income household girls had higher prevalence of obesity (17.9 vs. 13.1%, P < 0.05), central obesity (41.5 vs. 29.2%, P < 0.01), sedentary behaviors (20.4 vs. 9.4%, P < 0.01), and tobacco exposure (14.1 vs. 5.9%, P < 0.01). Apart from higher prevalence of elevated non-HDL-C among low-income women aged 18-24 ),ears (23.4 vs. 15.8%, P < 0.05), no other cardiovascular disease risk factor prevalence differences were observed between lowest- and highest-income background young adults. CONCLUSIONS--independent of race/ethnicity, 6- to 17-year-olds from low-income families have higher prevalence of obesity, central obesity, sedentary behavior, and tobacco exposure. Multifaceted cardiovascular health promotion policies are needed to reduce health disparities between income groups. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]