Annals of Epidemiology
Volume 16, Issue 2 , Pages 91-104 , February 2006

Systematic Review of the Influence of Childhood Socioeconomic Circumstances on Risk for Cardiovascular Disease in Adulthood

  • Bruna Galobardes, MBBChir

      Affiliations

    • Corresponding Author InformationAddress correspondence to: Bruna Galobardes, MBBChir, Department of Social Medicine, Canynge Hall, Whiteladies Road, Bristol, BS8 2PR, UK. Tel.: (+44) 117-928-7249; fax: (+44) 117-928-7325.
  • ,
  • George Davey Smith, DSc
  • ,
  • John W. Lynch, PhD

Received 28 January 2005 ,Accepted 8 June 2005.

References 

  1. Rose G. Incubation period of coronary heart disease. BMJ. 1982;284:1600–1601
  2. Kuh D, Ben-Shlomo Y. A Life Course Approach to Chronic Disease Epidemiology. 2nd ed.. Oxford: Oxford University; 2003;
  3. Kuh D, Hardy R. A Life Course Approach to Women's Health. Oxford: Oxford University; 2002;
  4. Davey Smith G. Health Inequalities: Lifecourse Approaches. Bristol: Policy Press; 2003;
  5. Strong JP, Malcom GT, McMahan CA, Tracy RE, Newman WP, Herderick EE, et al. Prevalence and extent of atherosclerosis in adolescents and young adults: Implications for prevention from the Pathobiological Determinants of Atherosclerosis in Youth Study. JAMA. 1999;281:727–735
  6. Berenson GS, Srinivasan SR, Bao W, Newman WP, Tracy RE, Wattigney WA, et al. Association between multiple cardiovascular risk factors and atherosclerosis in children and young adults. N Engl J Med. 1998;338:1650–1656
  7. Jarvisalo MJ, Jartti L, Nanto-Salonen K, Irjala K, Ronnemaa T, Hartiala JJ, et al. Increased aortic intima-media thickness: A marker of preclinical atherosclerosis in high-risk children. Circulation. 2001;104:2943–2947
  8. Raitakari OT, Juonala M, Kahonen M, Taittonen L, Laitinen T, Maki-Torkko N, et al. Cardiovascular risk factors in childhood and carotid artery intima-media thickness in adulthood: The Cardiovascular Risk in Young Finns Study. JAMA. 2003;290:2277–2283
  9. Li S, Chen W, Srinivasan SR, Bond MG, Tang R, Urbina EM, et al. Childhood cardiovascular risk factors and carotid vascular changes in adulthood: The Bogalusa Heart Study. JAMA. 2003;290:2271–2276
  10. Lynch JW, Kaplan GA, Salonen JT. Why do poor people behave poorly? Variation in adult health behaviours and psychosocial characteristics by stages of the socioeconomic lifecourse. Soc Sci Med. 1997;44:809–819
  11. Davey Smith G, Lynch JW. Socioeconomic differentials. In:  Kuh D,  Ben-Shlomo Y editor. A Lifecourse Approach to Chronic Disease Epidemiology. 2nd ed.. Oxford: Oxford University; 2004;p. 20–29
  12. Christenson WN, Hinkle LE. Differences in illness and prognostic signs in two groups of young men. JAMA. 1961;177:63–69
  13. Galobardes B, Shaw M, Lawlor DA, Lynch JW, Davey Smith G. Glossary: Indicators of socioeconomic position (part I). J Epidemiol Community Health. (in press).
  14. Galobardes B, Shaw M, Lawlor DA, Lynch JW, Davey Smith G. Glossary: Indicators of socioeconomic position (part II). J Epidemiol Community Health. (in press)
  15. Blackwell DL, Hayward MD, Crimmins EM. Does childhood health affect chronic morbidity in later life?. Soc Sci Med. 2001;52:1269–1284
  16. Egger M, Schneider M, Davey Smith G. Meta-analysis: Spurious precision? Meta-analysis of observational studies. BMJ. 1998;316:140–144
  17. Davey Smith G, Hart C, Blane D, Hole D. Adverse socioeconomic conditions in childhood can cause specific adult mortality: Prospective observational study. BMJ. 1998;316:1631–1635
  18. Hart CL, Davey Smith G. Relation between number of siblings and adult mortality and stroke risk: 25 Year follow up of men in the Collaborative Study. J Epidemiol Community Health. 2003;57:385–391
  19. Heslop P, Davey Smith G, Macleod J, Hart C. The socioeconomic position of employed women, risk factors and mortality. Soc Sci Med. 2001;53:477–485
  20. Davey Smith G, McCarron P, Okasha M, McEwen J. Social circumstances in childhood and cardiovascular disease mortality: Prospective observational study of Glasgow University students. J Epidemiol Community Health. 2001;55:340–341
  21. Frankel S, Davey Smith G, Gunnell D. Childhood socioeconomic position and adult cardiovascular mortality: The Boyd Orr Cohort. Am J Epidemiol. 1999;150:1081–1084
  22. Dedman DJ, Gunnell D, Davey Smith G, Frankel S. Childhood housing conditions and later mortality in the Boyd Orr cohort. J Epidemiol Community Health. 2001;55:10–15
  23. Wadsworth M, Hardy R. Coronary heart disease morbidity by age 53 years in relation to childhood risk factors in the 1946 birth cohort. In:  Giles A editors. A Lifecourse Approach to Coronary Heart Disease Prevention. Scientific and Policy Review. London: TSO; 2003;p. 39–48
  24. Singh-Manoux A, Ferrie JE, Chandola T, Marmot M. Socioeconomic trajectories across the life course and health outcomes in midlife: Evidence for the accumulation hypothesis?. Int J Epidemiol. 2004;33:1072–1079
  25. Lamont D, Parker L, White M, Unwin N, Bennett SM, Cohen M, et al. Risk of cardiovascular disease measured by carotid intima-media thickness at age 49-51: Lifecourse study. BMJ. 2000;320:273–278
  26. Notkola V, Punsar S, Karvonen MJ, Haapakoski J. Socio-economic conditions in childhood and mortality and morbidity caused by coronary heart disease in adulthood in rural Finland. Soc Sci Med. 1985;21:517–523
  27. Eriksson JG, Forsen T, Tuomilehto J, Osmond C, Barker DJP. Early growth, adult income, and risk of stroke. Stroke. 2000;31:869–874
  28. Barker DJ, Forsen T, Uutela A, Osmond C, Eriksson JG. Size at birth and resilience to effects of poor living conditions in adult life: longitudinal study. BMJ. 2001;323:1273–1276
  29. Pensola TH, Martikainen P. Cumulative social class and mortality from various causes of adult men. J Epidemiol Community Health. 2003;57:745–751
  30. Pensola TH, Martikainen P. Effect of living conditions in the parental home and youth paths on the social class gradient differences in mortality among women. Scand J Public Health. 2003;31:428–438
  31. Modin B. Born out of wedlock and never married—It breaks a man's heart. Soc Sci Med. 2003;57:487–501
  32. Vagero D, Leon D. Effect of social class in childhood and adulthood on adult mortality. Lancet. 1994;343:1224–1225
  33. Claussen B, Davey Smith G, Thelle D. Impact of childhood and adulthood socioeconomic position on cause specific mortality: The Oslo Mortality Study. J Epidemiol Community Health. 2003;57:40–45
  34. Naess O, Claussen B, Davey Smith G. Relative impact of childhood and adulthood socioeconomic conditions on cause specific mortality in men. J Epidemiol Community Health. 2004;58:597–598
  35. Osler M, Andersen A-MN, Due P, Lund R, Damsgaard MT, Holstein BE. Socioeconomic position in early life, birth weight, childhood cognitive function, and adult mortality. A longitudinal study of Danish men born in 1953. J Epidemiol Community Health. 2003;57:681–686
  36. Beebe-Dimmer J, Lynch JW, Turrell G, Lustgarten S, Raghunathan T, Kaplan GA. Childhood and adult socioeconomic conditions and 31-year mortality risk in women. Am J Epidemiol. 2004;159:481–490
  37. Gillum RF, Paffenbarger RS. Chronic disease in former college students. XVII. Sociocultural mobility as a precursor of coronary heart disease and hypertension. Am J Epidemiol. 1978;108:289–298
  38. Power C, Davey Smith G, Hypponen E. Socio-economic position in childhood and in early adult life and mortality in women: Prospective study of mothers of the 1958 British birth cohort. Am J Public Health. 2005;95:1396–1402
  39. Hayward MD, Gorman BK. The long arm of childhood: The influence of early-life social conditions on men's mortality. Demography. 2004;41:87–107
  40. Singh-Manoux A, Ferrie JE, Lynch JW, Marmot M. The role of cognitive ability (intelligence) in explaining the association between socioeconomic position and health: Evidence from the Whitehall II prospective cohort study. Am J Epidemiol. 2005;161:831–839
  41. Koupil I, Modin B, Byberg L, Fritzell J, Vagero D. Early and adult life social influences on circulatory disease. Eur J Public Health. 2004;14(suppl 4):S45
  42. Szklo M, Tonascia J, Gordis L. Psychosocial factors and the risk of myocardial infarctions in white women. Am J Epidemiol. 1976;103:312–320
  43. Burr ML, Sweetnam PM. Family size and paternal unemployment in relation to myocardial infarction. J Epidemiol Community Health. 1980;34:93–95
  44. Wamala SP, Lynch J, Kaplan GA. Women's exposure to early and later life socioeconomic disadvantage and coronary heart disease risk: The Stockholm Female Coronary Risk Study. Int J Epidemiol. 2001;30:275–284
  45. Donnan SP, Ho SC, Woo J, Wong SL, Woo KS, Tse CY, et al. Risk factors for acute myocardial infarction in a southern Chinese population. Ann Epidemiol. 1994;4:46–58
  46. Brasche S, Galbas C, Storl B. Childhood and myocardial infarct: Socioeconomic and psychosocial influences in childhood on risk of myocardial infarct. Soz Praventivmed. 2001;46:311–319
  47. Rose G. Familial patterns in ischaemic heart disease. British Journal of Preventive & Social Medicine. 1964;18:75–80
  48. Grau AJ, Becher H, Ziegler CM, Lichy C, Buggle F, Kaiser C, et al. Periodontal disease as a risk factor for ischemic stroke. Stroke. 2004;35:496–501
  49. Wannamethee SG, Whincup PH, Shaper G, Walker M. Influence of fathers' social class on cardiovascular disease in middle-aged men. Lancet. 1996;348:1259–1263
  50. Lawlor DA, Davey Smith G, Ebrahim S. Association between childhood socioeconomic status and coronary heart disease risk among postmenopausal women: Findings from the British Women's Heart and Health Study. Am J Public Health. 2004;94:1386–1392
  51. Kaplan GA, Salonen JT. Socioeconomic conditions in childhood and ischaemic heart disease during middle age. BMJ. 1990;301:1121–1123
  52. Rosvall M, Ostergren PO, Hedblad B, Isacsson SO, Janzon L, Berglund G. Life-course perspective on socioeconomic differences in carotid atherosclerosis. Arterioscler Thromb Vasc Biol. 2002;22:1704–1711
  53. Ippolito RA. Endowments at birth and adult health. Available at: http://mason.gmu.edu/∼rippolit/endowments.pdf. Accessed January 2004.
  54. Paffenbarger RS, Wolf PA, Notkin J, Thorne MC. Chronic disease in former college students. I. Early precursors of fatal coronary heart disease. Am J Epidemiol. 1966;83:314–328
  55. Bobak M, Hertzman C, Skodova Z, Marmot M. Own education, current conditions, parental material circumstances, and risk of myocardial infarction in a former communist country. J Epidemiol Community Health. 2000;54:91–96
  56. O'Leary SR, Wingard DL, Edelstein SL, Criqui MH, Tucker JS, Friedman HS. Is birth order associated with adult mortality?. Ann Epidemiol. 1996;6:34–40
  57. Gliksman MD, Kawachi I, Hunter D, Colditz GA, Manson JE, Stampfer MJ, et al. Childhood socioeconomic status and risk of cardiovascular disease in middle aged US women: A prospective study. J Epidemiol Community Health. 1995;49:10–15
  58. Marmot M, Shipley M, Brunner E, Hemingway H. Relative contribution of early life and adult socioeconomic factors to adult morbidity in the Whitehall II study. J Epidemiol Community Health. 2001;55:301–307
  59. Coggon D, Barker DJ, Inskip H, Wield G. Housing in early life and later mortality. J Epidemiol Community Health. 1993;47:345–348
  60. Lynch JW, Kaplan GA, Cohen RD, Kauhanen J, Wilson TW, Smith NL, et al. Childhood and adult socioeconomic status as predictors of mortality in Finland. Lancet. 1994;343:524–527
  61. O'Leary SR, Wingard DL, Edelstein SL, Criqui MH, Tucker JS, Friedman HS. Is birth order associated with adult mortality?. Ann Epidemiol. 1996;6:34–40
  62. Coggon D, Margetts B, Barker DJ, Carson PH, Mann JS, Oldroyd KG, et al. Childhood risk factors for ischaemic heart disease and stroke. Paediatr Perinat Epidemiol. 1990;4:464–469
  63. Lawlor DA, Davey Smith G, Leon DA, Sterne JA, Ebrahim S. Secular trends in mortality by stroke subtype in the 20th century: A retrospective analysis. Lancet. 2002;360:1818–1823
  64. Goodman KJ, Correa P. The transmission of Helicobacter pylori. A critical review of the evidence. Int J Epidemiol. 1995;24:875–887
  65. McCarron P, Davey Smith G. Physiological measurements in children and young people, and risk of coronary heart disease in adults. In:  Giles A editors. A Lifecourse Approach to Coronary Heart Disease Prevention. Scientific and Policy Review. London: TSO; 2003;p. 49–78
  66. Nelson MJ, Ragland DR, Syme SL. Longitudinal prediction of adult blood pressure from juvenile blood pressure levels. Am J Epidemiol. 1992;136:633–645
  67. Labarthe DR, Eissa M, Varas C. Childhood precursors of high blood pressure and elevated cholesterol. Ann Rev Public Health. 1991;12:519–541
  68. Yong LC, Kuller LH. Tracking of blood pressure from adolescence to middle age: The Dormont High School Study. Prev Med. 1994;23:418–426
  69. Bayer LM, Whissell-Buenchy D, Honzik MP. Health in the middle years. In:  Eichorn DH,  Clausen JA,  Haan N,  Honzik MP,  Mussen PH editor. Present and Past in Middle Life. London: Academic; 1981;p. 55–88
  70. McCarron P, Davey Smith G, Okasha M, McEwen J. Blood pressure in young adulthood and mortality from cardiovascular disease. Lancet. 2000;355:1430–1431
  71. McCarron P, Okasha M, McEwen J, Davey Smith G. Blood pressure in early life and cardiovascular disease mortality. Arch Intern Med. 2002;162:610–611
  72. Song YM, Davey Smith G, Sung J. Adult height and cause-specific mortality: A large prospective study of South Korean men. Am J Epidemiol. 2003;158:479–485
  73. Williams SR, Jones E, Bell W, Davies B, Bourne MW. Body habitus and coronary heart disease in men. A review with reference to methods of body habitus assessment. Eur Heart J. 1997;18:376–393
  74. Yarnell JW, Limb ES, Layzell JM, Baker IA. Height: A risk marker for ischaemic heart disease: Prospective results from the Caerphilly and Speedwell Heart Disease Studies. Eur Heart J. 1992;13:1602–1605
  75. Wannamethee SG, Shaper AG, Whincup PH, Walker M. Adult height, stroke, and coronary heart disease. Am J Epidemiol. 1998;148:1069–1076
  76. McCarron P, Okasha M, McEwen J, Davey Smith G. Height in young adulthood and risk of death from cardiorespiratory disease: A prospective study of male former students of Glasgow University, Scotland. Am J Epidemiol. 2002;155:683–687
  77. McCarron P, Okasha M, McEwen J, Davey Smith G. Respond to “height-cardiovascular disease relation”: Are all risk factors equal?. Am J Epidemiol. 2002;155:690–691
  78. Paffenbarger RS, Wing AL. Chronic disease in former college students. X. The effects of single and multiple characteristics on risk of fatal coronary heart disease. Am J Epidemiol. 1969;90:527–535
  79. Gunnell D. Can adult anthropometry be used as a ‘biomarker’ for prenatal and childhood exposures?. Int J Epidemiol. 2002;31:390–394
  80. Gunnell DJ, Davey Smith G, Frankel S, Nanchahal K, Braddon FE, Pemberton J, et al. Childhood leg length and adult mortality: Follow up of the Carnegie (Boyd Orr) Survey of Diet and Health in Pre-war Britain. J Epidemiol Community Health. 1998;52:142–152
  81. Lawlor DA, Ebrahim S, Davey Smith G. The association between components of adult height and type II diabetes and insulin resistance: British Women's Heart and Health Study. Diabetologia. 2002;45:1097–1106
  82. Davey Smith G, Greenwood R, Gunnell D, Sweetnam P, Yarnell J, Elwood P. Leg length, insulin resistance, and coronary heart disease risk: The Caerphilly Study. J Epidemiol Community Health. 2001;55:867–872
  83. Batty GD, Leon DA. Socioeconomic position and coronary heart disease risk factors in children and young people. In:  Giles A editors. A Lifecourse Approach to Coronary Heart Disease Prevention. Scientific and Policy Review. 1st ed.. London: TSO; 2003;p. 79–118
  84. van de Mheen H, Stronks K, Looman CW, Mackenbach JP. Does childhood socioeconomic status influence adult health through behavioural factors?. Int J Epidemiol. 1998;27:431–437
  85. Okasha M, McCarron P, Davey Smith G, Gunnell D. Trends in body mass index from 1948 to 1968: Results from the Glasgow Alumni Cohort. Int J Obes Rel Metab Disorders. 2003;27:638–640
  86. Flegal KM, Harlan WR, Landis JR. Secular trends in body mass index and skinfold thickness with socioeconomic factors in young adult men. Am J Clin Nutr. 1988;48:544–551
  87. Berney LR, Blane DB. Collecting retrospective data: Accuracy of recall after 50 years judged against historical records. Soc Sci Med. 1997;45:1519–1525
  88. Krieger N, Okamoto A, Selby JV. Adult female twins' recall of childhood social class and father's education: A validation study for public health research. Am J Epidemiol. 1998;147:704–708
  89. Kirkwood BR, Sterne JAC. Essential Medical Statistics. 2nd ed.. Oxford: Blackwell; 2003;
  90. Eriksson JG, Forsen T, Tuomilehto J, Winter PD, Osmond C, Barker DJ. Catch-up growth in childhood and death from coronary heart disease: Longitudinal study. BMJ. 1999;318:427–431
  91. Forsen T, Eriksson JG, Tuomilehto J, Osmond C, Barker DJ. Growth in utero and during childhood among women who develop coronary heart disease: Longitudinal study. BMJ. 1999;319:1403–1407
  92. O'Leary SR, Wingard DL, Edelstein SL, Criqui MH, Tucker JS, Friedman HS. Is birth order associated with adult mortality?. Ann Epidemiol. 1996;6:34–40
  93. Oscherwitz M, Krasnoff SO, Moretti L, Syme SL. The relationship of myocardial infarction to parental mortality and longevity. J Chronic Dis. 1968;21:341–348
  94. Hasle H. Association between living conditions in childhood and myocardial infarction. BMJ. 1990;300:512–513

 J.W.L. and G.D.S. were supported in part by a Robert Wood Johnson Foundation Investigators Award in Health Policy Research. Funds from this award also partly supported B.G.The views expressed in this review are those of the authors and not necessarily any funding bodies.

PII: S1047-2797(05)00250-4

doi: 10.1016/j.annepidem.2005.06.053

Annals of Epidemiology
Volume 16, Issue 2 , Pages 91-104 , February 2006