Socioeconomic status is not associated with health-related quality of life in a group of overweight middle-aged men

José G B Derraik; Benjamin B Albert; Martin de Bock; Éadaoin M Butler; Paul L Hofman; Wayne S Cutfield

doi:10.7717/peerj.5193

Socioeconomic status is not associated with health-related quality of life in a group of overweight middle-aged men

PeerJ. 2018 Jul 13:6:e5193. doi: 10.7717/peerj.5193. eCollection 2018.

Authors

José G B Derraik^{1

2

3}, Benjamin B Albert¹, Martin de Bock^{1

4}, Éadaoin M Butler^{1

2}, Paul L Hofman¹, Wayne S Cutfield^{1

2}

Affiliations

¹ Liggins Institute, University of Auckland, Auckland, New Zealand.
² A Better Start-National Science Challenge, Auckland, New Zealand.
³ Department of Women's and Children's Health, Uppsala Universitet, Uppsala, Sweden.
⁴ Department of Paediatrics, University of Otago, Christchurch, New Zealand.

Abstract

Socioeconomic status is a known determinant of health. In secondary data analyses, we assessed whether socioeconomic status affected health-related quality of life in a group of overweight (body mass index 25-30 kg/m²) middle-aged (45.9 ± 5.4 years) men, recruited in Auckland (New Zealand). Health-related quality of life was assessed with SF-36v2 three times: at baseline, and 12 and 30 weeks later. Socioeconomic status was determined by geo-coded deprivation scores derived from current address using the New Zealand Index of Deprivation 2006 (NZDep2006), as well as capital value of residence. Univariable and multivariable analyses showed no associations between measures of socioeconomic status and any mental or physical health domains. Our findings may reflect the fact that these men are not currently experiencing comorbidities associated with overweight.

Keywords: Adult; Deprivation; Health; Health-related quality of life; Male; Neighbourhood; Residence; Socioeconomic status; Wealth; Well-being.

Grants and funding

This study was supported by a TECHNZ grant (University of Auckland—UniS 30475.001) through the New Zealand Ministry of Science and Innovation. Martin de Bock was funded by the Joan Mary Reynolds Trust. The Paykel Trust has provided long-term funding for the Clinical Research Unit at the Liggins Institute (University of Auckland). The funders had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript.