Socioeconomic inequality and modifiable cardiovascular risk factor clusters among consulters with and without...

The study aims to investigate the socioeconomic inequalities in the prevalence of clustering of modifiable cardiovascular risk factors (MCRFs) among English individuals with and without osteoarthritis (OA), and examines the temporal trends of these inequalities from 1992 to 2017.

The study included 109,142 incident cases of OA aged ≥ 35 years and 1:1 age-, sex-, practice- and index year- matched non-OA individuals from the Clinical Practice Research Datalink (CPRD) GOLD with linkage to the English Index of Multiple Deprivation (IMD) 2015. We estimated the slope index of inequality (SII) and relative index of inequality (RII) for the period prevalence of clustering of MCVRFs (≥ 1, ≥ 2, ≥3).

A significant association was observed between socioeconomic deprivation and a higher period prevalence of clustering of MCRFs (≥ 1, ≥ 2, ≥3) in individuals with OA between 1992 and 2017. The SII and RII values indicated greater socioeconomic disparities among OA patients compared to non-OA counterparts. These disparities were consistent across genders but varied by age group.

Socioeconomic deprivation is linked to a higher prevalence of clustering of multiple MCRFs in people with OA, with this association being more pronounced than in those without OA. Addressing socioeconomic inequality should be integral in cardiovascular disease prevention strategies for the OA population.