Julianne Williams|Luke Allen|Kremlin Wickramasinghe|Bente Mikkelsen|Nia Roberts|Nick Townsend
A systematic review of associations between non-communicable diseases and socioeconomic status within low- and lower-middle-income countries
University of Oxford|University of Oxford|University of Oxford|World Health Organization|University of Oxford|University of Oxford
noncommunicable diseases ncds leading cause death globally eightytwo percent premature ncd deaths occur within low lower middleincome countries llmics research date largely drawn highincome countries suggests disadvantaged marginalized groups higher ncd burden dearth research studying relationship within llmics purpose systematic review map literature evidence llmics socioeconomic status ses gradient four particular ncds cardiovascular disease cancer diabetes chronic respiratory diseaseswe conducted comprehensive literature search primary research published 1 january 1990 27 april 2015 using six bibliographic databases web resources included studies reported ses morbidity mortality cardiovascular disease cancer diabetes chronic respiratory diseases within llmicsfiftyseven studies 17 llmics met inclusion criteria fourteen 18 papers reported significant associations cancer ses suggested low ses groups highest cancer risk eleven 15 papers reporting significant relationships cvd ses suggested low ses groups higher risk contrast seven 12 papers reporting significant findings related diabetes found higher ses groups higher diabetes risk identified three studies relationship chronic respiratory diseases ses none reported significant findingsonly 17 84 llmics represented highlighting need research ncds within countries majority studies medium high quality crosssectional studies restricted analyses high quality studies cancer cardiovascular disease half studies found significantly higher risk lower ses opposite true diabetes whilst paucity high quality research chronic respiratory disease development programmes must consider health alongside aims ncd prevention interventions must target members populationprospero crd42015020169