People with Low Self-esteem are at High Risk of Heart Disease: Study

An individual's perception about his socio-economic status can help predict risk for heart diseases, according to a study.
Past researches identified education, income and occupation as key factors to evaluate the overall health and well being of people. Experts in a recent study found the risk of cardiovascular diseases (CVD) very high among those who perceived their socio-economic status to be low. They analyzed data from the Healthy Aging in Neighborhoods of Diversity across the Life Span (HANDLS) study conducted in 2010 and measured the risk of heart problems in participants using Framingham 10-year risk equation. The socio-economic standing (SES) of each subject was calculated with the MacArthur Scale of Subjective Social Status. The study also included other variables like poverty, BMI, depression and intake of drugs to control blood pressure.
The findings revealed that "lower the self rating of SES higher the chances of heart diseases." The study noted this trend was more common among Whites than in African American participants.
"We actually expected the opposite due to the influence of racial discrimination on perceived social standing and cardiovascular disease risk," said Allyssa Allen, study author and a doctoral candidate in human services psychology at the University of Maryland in Baltimore County in a news release.
The experts observed that participants' ratings and opinions on social standing was influenced by a variety of reasons apart from their monthly income, possession of material wealth, education, income, spiritual and ethical values, social responsibility, respect and reputation. They explained, people who are economically disadvantaged may not be able to afford treatment costs, healthy diet, routine health check-ups and medications therefore, they have high CVD risk.
"The social environment in which we live has a critical impact on our health and well-being," said Susan Everson-Rose, co-author and associate professor of medicine at the University of Minnesota. "This is true for men, women, children, and people of all racial or ethnic groups. This new study demonstrates that perceptions of one's place within the community social milieu may matter for heart health, perhaps more so for whites than for blacks. The social characteristics people consider when positioning themselves on the SES ladder likely vary widely so the reasons for the seeming race differences in this study are unknown."
The authors believe despite advancement in treatment and health care, the income disparities in people from all ethnicity and racial backgrounds have a direct effect on the public health of the nation. They urge doctors and health officials to note the patients' opinions about their SES to assess their CVD risk and ensure treatment.
More information is available online in the journal Ethnicity and Diseases.
May 07, 2014 09:46 AM EDT