Women's exposure to early and later life socioeconomic disadvantage and coronary heart disease risk: the Stockholm Female Coronary Risk Study

Abstract

Both early and later exposure to socioeconomic disadvantage were associated with increased CHD risk in women. Later life exposure seems to be more harmful for women's cardiovascular health than early life exposure to socioeconomic disadvantage. However, being exposed to socioeconomic disadvantage in both early and later life magnified the risk for CHD in women. Cumulative exposure to socioeconomic disadvantage resulted in greater likelihood of CHD risk, even among women who were above median height. In terms of better understanding health inequalities among women, measures of socioeconomic disadvantage over the life course are both conceptually and empirically superior to using socioeconomic indicators from one point in time.