Poverty 'raises heart patients' risk'
    Poverty and social deprivation increase the risk of complications and
death
    among patients who undergo heart bypasses, research suggests.

    Researchers looked at the recovery of 3,578 patients who received
coronary
    artery bypass grafting (CABG) at the Bristol Royal Infirmary between
1996 and
    2000.

    They found patients from deprived areas tended to be younger and had a
    higher number of risk factors.

    These patients were more likely to die within 30 days of surgery.

    They had a higher rates of heart attack and stroke.

    And they tended to stay in hospital longer.

    The researchers from the Bristol Heart Institute, at the University of
Bristol,
    considered risk factors such as excessive weight, smoking and diabetes
and
    complications during surgery that could inhibit recovery.

    They weighed up risk against the patient's deprivation score - gleaned
from
    their postcode, using a system called the Carstairs index.

    Stress levels

    Nearly half of the hospital's referrals come from south-west Britain, a
large area
    that covers a range of socio-economic conditions.

    The research, published in the journal Heart, links poverty with
greater stress
    and social isolation, and less access to swift preventative treatment.

    The writers emphasise action targeted specifically to improve
healthcare for
    those from more deprived areas must be combined with a political
commitment
    to reduce the wealth gap.

    "It has been argued that targeting aspects of poor health among
society's
    poorer groups may also address the associations found between
    socio-economic deprivation and poor health," they state in the Heart
article.

    "However, this depends on a political commitment to reducing
socio-economic
    inequalities and on using a complex combination of strategies often
involving a
    multidisciplinary approach."
    Story from BBC NEWS:
    http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr/-/1/hi/health/3158869.stm

    Published: 2003/08/18 02:24:43 GMT

    © BBC MMIII

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