A groundbreaking study reveals many individuals enduring extreme poverty in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs) face conditions predisposing them to heart disease, the leading cause of global mortality. The findings are published in Nature Human Behavior.
In the most extensive analysis to date examining the intersection of poverty and cardiovascular disease (CVD) risk factors, researchers unveil a significant prevalence of hypertension, diabetes, smoking, obesity, and dyslipidaemia in LMICs, irrespective of income levels. A substantial portion of adults grappling with extreme poverty remain untreated for these CVD-related conditions.
These findings from an international consortium of researchers defy the traditional assumption that factors like food scarcity and rigorous physical labour shield individuals in extreme poverty from CVD risk factors. Hence, the research challenges the conventional narrative surrounding poverty and CVD risk factors. It is thus safe to anticipate that as LMICs progress economically, there is likely to be a surge in obesity and associated ailments among the most impoverished, including diabetes, dyslipidaemia, and hypertension.
With scant data on CVD risk factors among individuals below the World Bank's extreme poverty threshold, researchers aggregated information from 105 nationally representative household surveys across 78 countries. The countries in the dataset represent a significant portion of the global population, with 85% of those in extreme poverty, 53% of the total global population, and 64% of individuals residing in LMICs.
This comprehensive analysis of CVD risk factors and treatment coverage globally can guide targeted interventions and policies to mitigate CVD risk among vulnerable populations, improve health outcomes among the world's poorest and prompt a reevaluation of health policies in this domain.
The study underscores that CVD risk factors pervade all socioeconomic strata, including those in extreme poverty, across countries at various stages of economic development.
It is important to conduct additional research into the unique mechanisms driving CVD risk among those living in extreme poverty. This could facilitate understanding the pathways critical for implementing effective interventions to mitigate CVD risk in this demographic.
Source: University of Birmingham
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