Socioeconomic inequalities in health-related behaviors and health status in a representative sample of Greek adult population: The Hellas health I study

Introduction: Lifestyle and health are strongly associated with social, demographic and economic factors. Objective of the present study was to explore the association of health-related behavior and chronic disease with the socio-demographic characteristics of a representative sample of Greek adults.

Methods: A representative sample of the Greek adult population, comprising of 1005 adults (483 men and 522 women, mean age 47.4 ± 18.2), were randomly selected and interviewed. Gender, age, educational level, marital and socioeconomic status were associated with overweight and obesity, physical activity (International Physical Activity Questionnaire score), smoking (at least 1 cigarette/day), diet (Mediterranean diet score) and self-reported presence of chronic disease.

Results: Overweight and obesity is increasing with age and is more prevalent among men, married and less educated people. Being married almost doubles the risk of being physically inactive (p=0.005) and overweight/obesity (p<0.001). More men than women are current smokers (p<0.001), while physical inactivity is more prevalent among women (p=0.026). Low educational level is an independent predictor for physical inactivity, obesity and smoking (odds ratios:1.64, 1.74, 1.62 respectively). Multiple logistic regression analysis revealed that individuals classified in the lower socioeconomic level are 1.72 times more likely to be overweight/obese compared to those belonging to the higher level. Also, multiple logistic regression analysis showed that having a chronic disease (self-reported) is associated with age, socioeconomic status and educational level (p<0.05).

Conclusion: Socioeconomic and educational status is highly associated with health-related behaviors and health itself in Greek adults. Health promotion and education programs should be implemented to reduce social inequalities in health.