Journal of Biosocial Science

  • Journal of Biosocial Science / Volume 44 / Issue 04 / July 2012, pp 433-458
  • Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2012 The online version of this article is published within an Open Access environment subject to the conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike licence <http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/3.0/>. The written permission of Cambridge University Press must be obtained for commercial re-use.
  • DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/S0021932012000107 (About DOI), Published online: 11 April 2012
  • OPEN ACCESS

Table of Contents - July 2012 - Volume 44, Issue 04  

Research Article

ASSOCIATIONS BETWEEN HOUSEHOLD AND NEIGHBOURHOOD SOCIOECONOMIC STATUS AND SYSTOLIC BLOOD PRESSURE AMONG URBAN SOUTH AFRICAN ADOLESCENTS

PAULA L. GRIFFITHSa1a2, ZOË A. SHEPPARDa3, WILLIAM JOHNSONa4, NOËL CAMERONa1a2, JOHN M. PETTIFORa2 and SHANE A. NORRISa2

a1 School of Sport, Exercise and Health Sciences, Loughborough University, UK

a2 MRC/Wits Developmental Pathways for Health Research Unit, Faculty of Health Sciences, University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, South Africa

a3 School of Health and Social Care, Bournemouth University, UK

a4 Division of Epidemiology & Community Health, School of Public Health, University of Minnesota, USA

Summary

Factors resulting in high risk for cardiovascular disease have been well studied in high income countries, but have been less well researched in low/middle income countries. This is despite robust theoretical evidence of environmental transitions in such countries which could result in biological adaptations that lead to increased hypertension and cardiovascular disease risk. Data from the South African Birth to Twenty cohort, Bone Health sub-sample (n=358, 47% female), were used to model associations between household socioeconomic status (SES) in infancy, household/neighbourhood SES at age 16 years, and systolic blood pressure (multivariate linear regression) and risk for systolic pre-hypertension (binary logistic regression). Bivariate analyses revealed household/neighbourhood SES measures that were significantly associated with increased systolic blood pressure. These significant associations included improved household sanitation in infancy/16 years, caregiver owning the house in infancy and being in a higher tertile (higher SES) of indices measuring school problems/environment or neighbourhood services/problems/crime at 16 years of age. Multivariate analyses adjusted for sex, maternal age, birth weight, parity, smoking, term birth, height/body mass index at 16 years. In adjusted analyses, only one SES variable remained significant for females: those in the middle tertile of the crime prevention index had higher systolic blood pressure (β=3.52, SE=1.61) compared with the highest tertile (i.e. those with the highest crime prevention). In adjusted analyses, no SES variables were significantly associated with the systolic blood pressure of boys, or with the risk of systolic pre-hypertension in either sex. The lack of association between SES and systolic blood pressure/systolic pre-hypertension at age 16 years is consistent with other studies showing an equalization of adolescent health inequalities. Further testing of the association between SES and systolic blood pressure would be recommended in adulthood to see whether the lack of association persists.

(Online publication March 29 2012)

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