The association between educational level and risk of cardiovascular disease fatality among women with cardiovascular disease

Adjusted age-specific cardiovascular disease mortality hazard ratios of non-high school graduates to high school graduates among women with cardiovascular disease. Hazard ratios calculated from Cox regression models adjusted for baseline age, history of diabetes mellitus, body mass index, total cholesterol, systolic and diastolic blood pressure, smoking status, and race/ethnicity at baseline. Continuous line derived from nonproportional hazards model containing an interaction term between education and age. Dotted line represents the 95% confidence interval for nonproportional hazards model. Solid circles derived from proportional hazards models for the midpoint (N) in 5-year interval age groups.

General trends of the association between educational level and cardiovascular disease mortality among women with cardiovascular disease across cohorts. Six lines including overall trend derived from cohort-specific nonproportional hazard models containing an interaction term between education and age and adjusted for baseline age, history of diabetes mellitus, body mass index, total cholesterol, systolic and diastolic blood pressure, smoking status, and race/ethnicity at baseline.