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Should socioeconomic factors be considered as traditional risk factors for cardiovascular disease, as confounders, or as risk modifiers?

De Vogli, R.; Marmot, M.; (2008) Should socioeconomic factors be considered as traditional risk factors for cardiovascular disease, as confounders, or as risk modifiers? Dialogues in Cardiovascular Medicine , 13 (2) pp. 3-19. Green open access

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Abstract

A large number of studies show that cardiovascular disease and its traditional risk factors are associated with socioeconomic conditions. However, their etiological role in the development of cardiovascular outcomes is not always well understood. In particular, it is unclear whether socioeconomic factors should be considered as traditional risk factors for CVD, as confounders, or as risk modifiers. In this article, after examining whether socioeconomic conditions meet the criteria for the three definitions, we argue that none of them fully captures the complexity of their contribution in shaping the epidemic of heart disease across and within societies. We argue instead that socioeconomic factors are the “causes of the causes” of heart disease. Implications for research and interventions to reduce heart disease are discussed.

Type: Article
Title: Should socioeconomic factors be considered as traditional risk factors for cardiovascular disease, as confounders, or as risk modifiers?
Open access status: An open access version is available from UCL Discovery
Publisher version: http://www.dialogues-cvm.org/issues/48/48_03.asp
Language: English
Additional information: © 2008 Les Laboratoires Servier.
Keywords: Socioeconomic factor, socioeconomic condition, social gradient, coronary heart disease, cardiovascular disease
UCL classification: UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > School of Life and Medical Sciences > Faculty of Population Health Sciences > Institute of Epidemiology and Health > Epidemiology and Public Health
URI: https://discovery.ucl.ac.uk/id/eprint/9974
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