COPENHAGEN, Denmark, Dec. 12 (UPI) -- Danish researchers have linked lower levels of education with increased risks of heart failure.
The large European study found better educated men and women had nearly half the risk of hospital admission for heart failure than the least well educated.
The study, led by Dr. Eva Prescott of Bispebjerg University Hospital in Copenhagen and published online in the European Heart Journal, also found the clear socioeconomic gradient in heart failure risk was not explained by lifestyle differences. Prescott and her colleagues suggested explanations potentially include differences in patient treatment.
Prescott noted echocardiography showed early indicators of heart dysfunction in healthy individuals and indicated the socioeconomic gradient present from early disease stages. Prescott suggested more studies to look for explanations at the pre-clinical stages.
"One point to be mentioned is the role of psychosocial stress on development of heart failure -- this has received very little scientific attention so far," Prescott said in a statement.
Prescott and colleagues tracked 18,616 people for as long as 31 years. The study participants had physical exams at the time they joined the study and at regular intervals afterward. Questionnaires were used to assess risk factors. A random sample was assessed for heart function using echocardiography.
