Associations between neighborhood socioeconomic cluster and hypertension, diabetes, myocardial infarction, and coronary ar ter y disease within a cohort of cardiac catheterization patients

Background Neighborhood-level socioeconomic status (SES) is associated with health outcomes, including cardiovas-cular disease and diabetes, but these associations are rarely studied across large, diverse populations. Methods We used Ward's Hierarchical clustering to define eight neighborhood clusters across North Carolina using 11 census-based indicators of SES, race, housing, and urbanicity and assigned 6992 cardiac catheterization patients at Duke University Hospital from 2001 to 2010 to clusters. We examined associations between clusters and coronary artery disease index > 23 (CAD), history of myocardial infarction, hypertension, and diabetes using logistic regression adjusted for age, race, sex, body mass index, region of North Carolina, distance to Duke University Hospital, and smoking status. Results Four clusters were urban, three rural, and one suburban higher-middle-SES (referent). We observed greater odds of myocardial infarction in all six clusters with lower or middle-SES. Odds of CAD were elevated in the rural cluster that was low-SES and plurality Black (OR 1.16, 95% CI 0.94-1.43) and in the rural cluster that was majority American Indian (OR 1.31, 95% CI 0.91-1.90). Odds of diabetes and hypertension were elevated in two urban and one rural low-and lower-middle SES clusters with large Black populations. Conclusions We observed higher prevalence of cardiovascular disease and diabetes in neighborhoods that were predominantly rural, low-SES, and non-White, highlighting the importance of public health and healthcare system outreach into these communities to promote cardiometabolic health and prevent and manage hypertension, diabetes and coronary artery disease.

Automated summary

This study found higher prevalence of cardiovascular disease and diabetes in neighborhoods that were predominantly rural, low-SES, and non-White in North Carolina. This highlights the importance of public health outreach and healthcare system involvement in these communities to promote cardiometabolic health and prevent/manage hypertension, diabetes, and coronary artery disease.