Inter-generation social mobility modifies framingham risk score in Polish middle-aged men, but not in women

In modern societies, there are regular social gradients in most health parameters, and also in the structure of morbidity and mortality. However, the significance of inter-generation social mobility for general health status still remains equivocal. This study was therefore performed in order to compare the effect of social mobility on coronary heart disease (CHD) risk between middle-aged Polish men and women. A total of 342 men and 458 women, aged 40 and 50 and inhabitants of Wrocław, were examined. Risk of CHD was estimated using the Framingham Risk Score (FRS), calculated for each individual. Social mobility was defined as an inter-generation change in social status expressed as educational level between the examined individual and his/her father. Using two-variable regression models, it was demonstrated that FRS in men was determined by both their father's education level (beta=0.33, p<0.0001) and inter-generation change in educational status (beta=0.18, p=0.008). In contrast, FRS in women was related only to their father's education level (beta=0.35, p<0.0001), but not to inter-generation social mobility (beta=0.35, p=0.25). In particular, an incremental change in educational level among those men whose father had finished primary school at the very most or among those whose father had finished basic trade school was accompanied by a significant decrease in FRS (F=4.12, p=0.009 and F=3.25, p=0.04, respectively). It is concluded that inter-generation social mobility modifies CHD risk (as estimated using FRS) in middle-aged Polish men, but not in women. The precise mechanisms responsible for the observed sex difference in this phenomenon need to be established in further studies.