Illiteracy, low educational status, and cardiovascular mortality in India
2011

Education and Heart Disease Deaths in India

Sample size: 148173 publication Evidence: high

Author Information

Author(s): Pednekar Mangesh S, Gupta Rajeev, Gupta Prakash C

Primary Institution: Healis Sekhsaria Institute for Public Health

Hypothesis

The study aims to determine the influence of education on cardiovascular disease mortality in India.

Conclusion

Higher educational status is associated with lower all-cause mortality in both men and women, and lower cardiovascular mortality in men.

Supporting Evidence

  • Illiteracy was more prevalent among women than men.
  • Cardiovascular disease was the major cause of death across all educational groups.
  • Age-adjusted mortality rates decreased with higher educational attainment.

Takeaway

People who go to school and learn more tend to live longer and have fewer heart problems, especially men.

Methodology

A cohort study was conducted with 148,173 individuals aged 35 and older, followed for an average of 5.5 years to assess mortality based on educational status.

Potential Biases

Potential bias due to reliance on local death registries for cause of death, which may be imprecise.

Limitations

The study may not be fully representative of the Indian population as it excluded upper-middle-class and upper-class individuals and did not account for pre-existing health conditions.

Participant Demographics

The cohort included 88,658 men and 59,515 women, with a higher prevalence of illiteracy among women (45.3%) compared to men (17.0%).

Statistical Information

Confidence Interval

95% CI

Statistical Significance

p<0.01

Digital Object Identifier (DOI)

10.1186/1471-2458-11-567

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