Socio-economic status as a coronary risk factor: the Oslo study.

The association between socioeconomic status, measured by a combination of income and education, and CHD mortality has been studied in a cohort of 40-49 year old Oslo men. Socio-economic status was significantly associated with CHD mortality. However, the lowest CHD mortality was found in social status Group III (middle class) and this could not be explained by the risk factor gradients seen among those studied. Although the number of fatalities is small (68 CHD deaths during 4.5 years) socio-economic status seems to be independently associated with coronary risk after adjusting for serum cholesterol, systolic blood pressure and cigarette smoking.