The influence of childhood poverty on the self-management of heart disease in later life

Abstract

There is growing evidence to suggest that childhood deprivation is linked to social inequalities and has important consequences for health in later life. Past studies tend to focus on the influence of cumulative deprivation on the risk of developing a particular disease. This study adds to the literature by exploring how deprivation in childhood may be linked to how people (who already have a disease) self-manage their condition in later life. Questionnaires and focus groups were analysed to explore this relationship (n=91) among coronary heart disease patients living in a deprived urban area of Northern England. The results suggest that childhood deprivation may influence health behaviours and lifestyle in later life especially with regard to diet, health locus of control and doctor visits.

Citation

Lindsay, S. (2009), "The influence of childhood poverty on the self-management of heart disease in later life", Jacobsk Ronenfeld, J. (Ed.) Social Sources of Disparities in Health and Health Care and Linkages to Policy, Population Concerns and Providers of Care (Research in the Sociology of Health Care, Vol. 27), Emerald Group Publishing Limited, Leeds, pp. 161-183. https://doi.org/10.1108/S0275-4959(2009)0000027010