Socioeconomic inequalities of cardiovascular risk factors among manufacturing employees in the Republic of Ireland: A cross-sectional study

OBJECTIVES To explore socioeconomic differences in four cardiovascular disease risk factors (overweight/obesity, smoking, hypertension, height) among manufacturing employees in the Republic of Ireland (ROI). METHODS Cross-sectional analysis of 850 manufacturing employees aged 18-64 years. Education and job position served as socioeconomic indicators. Group-specific differences in prevalence were assessed with the Chi-squared test. Multivariate regression models were explored if education and job position were independent predictors of the CVD risk factors. Cochran-Armitage test for trend was used to assess the presence of a social gradient. RESULTS A social gradient was found across educational levels for smoking and height. Employees with the highest education were less likely to smoke compared to the least educated employees (OR 0.2, [95% CI 0.1-0.4]; p < 0.001). Lower educational attainment was associated with a reduction in mean height. Non-linear differences were found in both educational level and job position for obesity/overweight. Managers were more than twice as likely to be overweight or obese relative to those employees in the lowest job position (OR 2.4 [95% CI 1.3-4.6]; p = 0.008). CONCLUSION Socioeconomic inequalities in height, smoking and overweight/obesity were highlighted within a sub-section of the working population in ROI.