Association of educational status with cardiovascular disease: Teheran Lipid and Glucose Study.

OBJECTIVE

The aim of this study was to evaluate the associations between educational level and cardiovascular disease (CVD) in an older Iranian population.

METHODS

To estimate the odds ratio (OR) of educational level in a cross-sectional study, logistic regression analysis was used on 1,788 men and 2,204 women (222 men and 204 women positive based on their CVD status) aged ≥ 45 years.

RESULTS

In men, educational levels of college degree and literacy level below diploma were inversely associated with CVD in the multivariate model [0.52 (0.28-0.94), 0.61 (0.40-0.92), respectively], but diploma level did not show any significant association with CVD, neither in the crude model nor in the multivariate model. In women, increase in educational level was inversely associated with risk of CVD in the crude model, but in the multivariate adjusted model, literacy level below diploma decreased risk of CVD by 39%, compared with illiteracy.

CONCLUSION

Our findings support those of developed countries that, along with other CVD risk factors, educational status has an inverse association with CVD among a representative Iranian population of older men and women.