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IQ explains some of the difference in heart disease between people of high and low socio-economic status

15 July 2009

A unique study looking at the difference in cardiovascular disease and life expectancy between people of high and low socio-economic status has found that a person’s IQ may have a role to play. Authors of the study published in Europe’s leading cardiology journal, the European Heart Journal, analysed data from a group of 4,289 former soldiers in the USA. They found that IQ explained more than 20% of the difference in mortality between people from socio-economically disadvantaged backgrounds compared to those from more advantaged backgrounds.

From the paper: Does IQ explain socio-economic differentials in total and cardiovascular disease mortality? Comparison with the explanatory power of traditional cardiovascular disease risk factors in the Vietnam Experience Study G. David Batty, Martin J. Shipley, Ruth Dundas, Sally Macintyre, Geoff Der, Laust H. Mortensen, and Ian J. Deary

Published in European Heart Journal, Advance Access, July 15 2009

Read the press release online

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