Objective: To explore the influence of social support (SS) on relative risk of an arterial hypertension (AH) and stroke in female population of 25–64 y over 16 years in Russia.
Material and methods: Under the third screening of the WHO “MONICA-psychosocial” program random representative sample of women aged 25–64 y (n = 870) were surveyed in Novosibirsk. Berkman–Syme test was used to measure indices of close contacts (ICC) and social network (SNI). From 1995 to 2010 women were followed for 16 y for AH and stroke incidence.
Results: The prevalence of low SS in women aged 25–64 y was 57% and 77.7% for low ICC and low SNI, respectively.
HR of AH over the first 5 years was 2.01-fold higher (95.0% CI: 1.025–3.938; p < 0.05) in women with low ICC compared to those with higher levels of ICC. Over 10 y HR was 1.93 (95.0% CI:1.138–3.261; p < 0.05) and it was 1.42 (95.0% CI: 1.138–3.261; p < 0.05) over 16 y follow-up in persons with low ICC. HR of AH in women with low SNI were 1.88 (p < 0.05) and 1.58 (p < 0.01) for 10 and 16 years, respectively. Risk of stroke over 16 y of follow-up was 4.1 (p < 0.05) in women with low ICC, and 2.7 (p < 0.05) in those with low SNI compared women with higher SS levels. Manual workers and married ones with low ICC and SNI had higher rates of AH stroke (p for all <0.05).
Conclusion: There is high prevalence of low SS in Russian women aged 25–64 y. Low SS significantly increases risks of AH and stroke especially in married women in manual occupational class.
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© 2015 Published by Elsevier Inc.
