Lifecourse socioeconomic status and cardiovascular illness in Latin America

Abstract

Although socioeconomic status has been positively linked to health, little is known how socioeconomic disadvantage experienced in both childhood and adulthood influences cardiovascular illness in low- and middle-income countries. With particular emphasis on the elderly, this research uses Latin American data to test whether adult socioeconomic disadvantage, net of childhood socioeconomic disadvantage, is associated with being diagnosed with hypertension and experiencing a heart attack. This research also explores how location plays a role in the relationship between socioeconomic status and health by providing country-specific analyses. Findings indicate that while adult socioeconomic status is negatively associated with cardiovascular illness in the region overall, this relationship is positive in Argentina, Brazil, and Chile. Results suggest that, in the case of elderly Latin Americans, socioeconomic advantage did not uniformly translate into a definite health advantage.