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Late life socioeconomic status and hypertension in an aging cohort: the Atherosclerosis Risk in Communities Study.
- Source :
-
Journal of hypertension [J Hypertens] 2018 Jun; Vol. 36 (6), pp. 1382-1390. - Publication Year :
- 2018
-
Abstract
- Objective: To investigate the association between individual and area-level socioeconomic status and hypertension risk among individuals later in life.<br />Methods: We used Cox proportional hazards models to examine the association of socioeconomic status with incident hypertension using race-specific neighborhood socioeconomic status, median household income, and education among 3372 participants (mean age, 61 years) from the Atherosclerosis Risk in Communities Study at Visit 4 (1996-1998). Incident hypertension was defined as self-reported diagnosis or reported use of antihypertensive medications.<br />Results: Over a median follow-up time of 9.4 years, there were 1874 new cases of hypertension (62.1 per 1000 person-years). Overall, being in high as compared with low socioeconomic status categories was associated with a lower risk of developing hypertension in late life, with hazard ratios (95% confidence intervals) of 0.87 (0.77-0.98) for high neighborhood socioeconomic status tertile, 0.79 (0.69-0.90) for high individual income, and 0.75 (0.63-0.89) for college education after adjustment for traditional risk factors. These findings were consistent and robust whenever accounting for competing risks of all-cause mortality. No significant interactions by race and age (dichotomized at age 65) were observed.<br />Conclusion: Among participants free of hypertension in midlife, high neighborhood and individual socioeconomic status are associated with a decreased risk of incident hypertension. Our findings support population-level interventions, such as blood pressure screening at senior centers and faith-based organizations, that are tailored to shift the distribution of blood pressure and reduce hypertension health inequalities among older adults.
Details
- Language :
- English
- ISSN :
- 1473-5598
- Volume :
- 36
- Issue :
- 6
- Database :
- MEDLINE
- Journal :
- Journal of hypertension
- Publication Type :
- Academic Journal
- Accession number :
- 29621068
- Full Text :
- https://doi.org/10.1097/HJH.0000000000001696