Cardiovascular Disease in China: Socioeconomic Status Variation in Prevalence

Abstract

Cardiovascular disease is the single largest contributor to global mortality and the leading cause of both death and premature death in China. Data on the association between cardiovascular disease and socioeconomic status are sparse, especially for Asian countries. Our study collected data to describe the socioeconomic status variation across cardiovascular disease using a large nationwide cross-sectional study. Methods: We chose participants using the cluster sampling method, prepared a face-to-face questionnaire interview for the selected community residents, and collected information on health conditions, socioeconomic status, demographics, and comorbidities. All collected data were reported as frequencies and corresponding percentages. Linear regression and simple and multivariable logistic regression were performed to identify the prevalence variation. All statistical analyses were performed using SPSS version 26 software. Results: Socioeconomic information was available for 394,688 participants (covering most provincial districts). The prevalence of cardiovascular disease was 7.9%. The prevalence was higher in rural areas than that in urban areas (rural, 8.4%; urban, 7.5%). There was a negative relationship between urbanization and cardiovascular disease prevalence. Furthermore, cardiovascular disease prevalence had a negative relationship with average earnings. Conclusion: This cross-sectional analysis of socioeconomic status variation in the prevalence of cardiovascular disease in China showed a significant negative relationship between regional and individual socioeconomic status and cardiovascular disease. The results imply that governments would benefit communities by focusing on effective and targeted interventions for prevention, screening, and treatment in individuals who may be in the socioeconomic status with a high risk for cardiovascular disease.Plain Language Summary: Benefits from the inclusion of many provinces, and large sample size, this study provided important new viewpoints on the prevalence of CVD. We described the current CVD status in China and the socioeconomic status variation on cardiovascular disease in the prevalence. In our study, significant differences were observed in iSES and CVD. And we identified the rSES in CVD prevalence disparities among provincial districts based on large administrative data sets. These results are essential for the government to put the target prevention programs and effective public health to those in status with a high risk to reduce prevalence. Besides, the English language in our manuscript had been proofread and revised by professional editing service in Editage.