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BMC Public Health
Published in: BMC Public Health 1/2016

Open Access 01-12-2016 | Research article

The social patterning of risk factors for noncommunicable diseases in five countries: evidence from the modeling the epidemiologic transition study (METS)

Authors: Silvia Stringhini, Terrence E. Forrester, Jacob Plange-Rhule, Estelle V. Lambert, Bharathi Viswanathan, Walter Riesen, Wolfgang Korte, Naomi Levitt, Liping Tong, Lara R. Dugas, David Shoham, Ramon A. Durazo-Arvizu, Amy Luke, Pascal Bovet

Published in: BMC Public Health | Issue 1/2016

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Abstract

Background

Associations between socioeconomic status (SES) and risk factors for noncommunicable diseases (NCD-RFs) may differ in populations at different stages of the epidemiological transition. We assessed the social patterning of NCD-RFs in a study including populations with different levels of socioeconomic development.

Methods

Data on SES, smoking, physical activity, body mass index, blood pressure, cholesterol and glucose were available from the Modeling the Epidemiologic Transition Study (METS), with about 500 participants aged 25–45 in each of five sites (Ghana, South Africa, Jamaica, Seychelles, United States).

Results

The prevalence of NCD-RFs differed between these populations from five countries (e.g., lower prevalence of smoking, obesity and hypertension in rural Ghana) and by sex (e.g., higher prevalence of smoking and physical activity in men and of obesity in women in most populations). Smoking and physical activity were associated with low SES in most populations. The associations of SES with obesity, hypertension, cholesterol and elevated blood glucose differed by population, sex, and SES indicator. For example, the prevalence of elevated blood glucose tended to be associated with low education, but not with wealth, in Seychelles and USA. The association of SES with obesity and cholesterol was direct in some populations but inverse in others.

Conclusions

In conclusion, the distribution of NCD-RFs was socially patterned in these populations at different stages of the epidemiological transition, but associations between SES and NCD-RFs differed substantially according to risk factor, population, sex, and SES indicator. These findings emphasize the need to assess and integrate the social patterning of NCD-RFs in NCD prevention and control programs in LMICs.
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Metadata
Title
The social patterning of risk factors for noncommunicable diseases in five countries: evidence from the modeling the epidemiologic transition study (METS)
Authors
Silvia Stringhini
Terrence E. Forrester
Jacob Plange-Rhule
Estelle V. Lambert
Bharathi Viswanathan
Walter Riesen
Wolfgang Korte
Naomi Levitt
Liping Tong
Lara R. Dugas
David Shoham
Ramon A. Durazo-Arvizu
Amy Luke
Pascal Bovet
Publication date
01-12-2016
Publisher
BioMed Central
Published in
BMC Public Health / Issue 1/2016
Electronic ISSN: 1471-2458
DOI
https://doi.org/10.1186/s12889-016-3589-5

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