People who are university graduates are less likely to have a heart attack as those who leave school without certificate.
Researchers from Sax institute in Austarlia studied the links between education and cardiovaascualar disease events. Such as heart attack or stroke, by following 267,153 people in the state of New south Wales aged over 45. “ the higher your education the lower you are likely to have heart attack or stroke, that is disturbing but clear finding out from our reasearch,” said Rosemary Korda from Australian National University. Adults aged 45-64 years, reates among those with lower education qualifications were more than double those of people with a university degree, said Korda.
The Risk was about 70% higher among people with Intermediate qualification.
“Mid-age adults who had not completed high school were 50 per cent more likely to have a first stroke than those with a university degree; those with intermediate levels of education (non-university qualifications) were 20 per cent more likely,” said Korda.
A similar pattern of inequality existed between household income and cardiovascular disease events, said Korda.
“What these differences in cardiovascular disease rates between more and less disadvantaged groups show us is just how much cardiovascular disease in the population can be prevented,” Korda added.
“We know that a good education impacts long term health by influencing what type of job you have, where you live and what food choices you make,” said Kerry Doyle from Heart Foundation New South Wales in Australia.
“This research provides an opportunity to further unpack the specific relationship between educational achievement and cardiovascular disease risk, and what can be done to reduce this risk,” she said.
The study was published in the International Journal for Equity in Health.
By AMandeep
