Socioeconomic aspects of spousal concordance for hypertension, obesity, and smoking in a community of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil

• Main Authors: Bloch Katia Vergetti, Klein Carlos Henrique, Silva Nelson Albuquerque de Souza e, Nogueira Armando da Rocha, Salis Lucia Helena Alvares
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: Sociedade Brasileira de Cardiologia (SBC) 2003-01-01
• Series: Arquivos Brasileiros de Cardiologia
• Subjects: hypertension; obesity; smoking; risk factors; spouse concordance
• Online Access: http://www.scielo.br/scielo.php?script=sci_arttext&pid=S0066-782X2003000200006
• ISSN: 0066-782X; 1678-4170

OBJECTIVE: The present study aims to evaluate the environmental role in the distribution of hypertension, obesity, and smoking and spousal concordance for the presence/absence of these 3 cardiovascular risk factors. METHODS: A cross-sectional study was conducted in a community in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. The households were randomly selected. Odds ratios were estimated to measure spousal concordance, across socioeconomic levels.. RESULTS: Overall a significant aggregation of all 3 risk factors was present. The crude odds ratio for hypertension was 1.78 (95%CI=1.02-3.08); for obesity, it was 1.80 (95%CI=1.09-2.96); and for smoking, it was 3.40 (95% CI=2.07-5.61). The spousal concordance for hypertension decreased significantly (p<0.001) from the lower to the higher educational level. In the case of obesity and smoking, the opposite was observed, although p-values for the linear trend were 0.10 and 0.08, respectively. CONCLUSION: In lower socioeconomic levels, couples are more concordant for hypertension and discordant for smoking. For hypertension and smoking, education seems to be a discriminant stronger than income, but for obesity the 2 socioeconomic indicators seem to represent different aspects of the environmental determinants of risk factor distribution.