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Abstract
Background: The social position of a husband or wife can influence the health status of the individual and his/her partner. Also, social position can change over time as a result of education, job, income, marriage and/or divorce.
Aim: To examine the association of mobility by marriage based on educational discrepancy between spouses and risk of cardiovascular disease (CVD) among Polish men and women of 40–50 years of age.
Subjects and methods: The sample included 394 married men and 453 married women of 40–50 years of age. All were residents of Wrocław located in southwestern Poland. Risk of CVD was assessed with the Framingham Risk Score (FRS). The sex-specific effect of social mobility on CVD risk (FRS) was tested by multiple regression analyses.
Results: Among Polish married men and women, social mobility by marriage had a significant association with risk of CVD. Downwardly mobile men and women had a higher risk of CVD, while upwardly mobile men and women had a lower risk of CVD compared with individuals from homogamous marriages. The sole exception to this trend was poorly educated men among whom marriage with a better educated wife did not affect CVD risk.
Conclusion: Social mobility by marriage influences CVD risk. The results provide additional insights for studies examining socioeconomic differentials in CVD risk.
Acknowledgements
The authors are most grateful to Professor Robert M. Malina for his generous help and his remarks concerning this paper.
Declaration of interest: Grant sponsor: Ministry of Science and Higher Education (Poland); Contract grant number: 2 P05D 077 27; Grant sponsor: Health Department in Municipal Council in Wrocław. The authors report no conflicts of interest. The authors alone are responsible for the content and writing of the paper.