Socio-economic status and mortality from cardiovascular diseases in Qazvin (2009)

  Background: Cardiovascular diseases are the main causes of mortality and morbidity. According to many reviews in developed countries, the socio-economic indicators are strong predictors in cardiovascular diseases.   Objective: The goal of this study was to investigate the socio-economic status and mortality from cardiovascular diseases in Qazvin in 2009.   Methods: This was a descriptive study performed on 878 persons who had passed away because of cardiovascular diseases in Qazvin in 2009. A self-made questionnaire composed of two parts including the demographic characteristics (age, sex, residence), the socio-economic status (education, job classification, income, and income percentile), and other information (insurance coverage, per capita home space) was used for data collection. Data were obtained via telephone interview with households.   Findings: The average age of people died of cardiovascular diseases was 73.33±13.49 years. The prevalence of mortality showed a positive correlation with age. The rural/urban ratio for cardiovascular mortalities was 2. (OR=2.4-1.8). Of total deaths, 67% were related to illiterate people and mostly in farmers of whom 69.7% were within the two low income percentile. The ratio of mortality prevalence in people of the first cluster income (with incomes in the three low 10%) to those in the third higher income cluster was 18.   Conclusion: According to our findings, it seems that the newly established family physician plan, based on referral system and preventive measures, should be followed up and supervised more seriously. In this way, training plans, promotion of health literacy and case finding especially in vulnerable groups of the society (illiterates, farmers, and low income people) both in urban and rural areas must be the focus of more effort and control.