Socioeconomic status influences response to chest pain

Little attention has been devoted to understanding potential pathways linking socioeconomic status to the health of individuals. Socioeconomic status has long been recognised as an important determinant of illness behaviour and the quality of the doctor-patient relationship. This study is aimed to ascertain whether responses to chest pain varied with socioeconomic status.  The study was conducted at the Department of Public Health University of Glasgow, Scotland. It included 30 respondents (15 men and 15 women) from a socioeconomically deprived area of Glasgow and 30 respondents (15 men and 15 women) from an affluent area of Glasgow. Compared with the affluent group, people from the deprived area reported greater perceived vulnerability to heart disease, which stemmed from greater exposure to heart disease in family members. People from the deprived area reported greater exposure to ill health, which allowed them to normalise their chest pain, led to confusion with other conditions, and gave rise to a belief that they were overusing medical services, and perceiving that they were to blame for their chest pain. In contrast, respondents from the affluent area were more likely to deny a family history of heart disease. Others presented their family histories as discrete and isolated events or reported a belief that their positive family history could be "cancelled out" by leading a healthy lifestyle. The possible implications for ensuring equity of access to cardiology services should be considered by professionals working in primary care and health promotion. Primary care professionals and health promoters should be aware of the ways in which perceptions of symptoms and illness behaviour are shaped by social and cultural factors.