The Association between Social Network Betweenness and Coronary Calcium: A Baseline Study of Patients with a High Risk of Cardiovascular Disease

다국어 초록 (Multilingual Abstract)

<P><B><I>Aim</I>:</B> The association of social networks with cardiovascular disease (CVD) has been demonstrated through various studies. This study aimed to examine the association between <I>social network betweenness</I>–a network position of mediating <I>between</I> diverse social groups–and coronary artery calcium.</P><P><B><I>Methods</I>:</B> The data of 1,384 participants from the Cardiovascular and Metabolic Disease Etiology Research Center–High Risk Cohort, a prospective cohort study enrolling patients with a high risk of developing CVD (clinicaltrials.gov: NCT02003781), were analyzed. The deficiency in social network betweenness was measured in two ways: <I>only-family networks</I>, in which a respondent had networks with only family members, and <I>no-cutpoint networks</I>, in which the respondent does not function as a point of bridging between two or more social groups that are not directly connected.</P><P><B><I>Results</I>:</B> Participants who had higher coronary artery calcium scores (CACSs) were likely to have a smaller network size (<I>p</I> < 0.001), only-family networks (<I>p</I> < 0.001), and no-cutpoint networks (<I>p</I> < 0.001). Multiple logistic regression analyses revealed no significant association between network size and CACS. Only no-cutpoint networks had a significant relationship with CACS > 400 (odds ratio, 1.72; 95% confidence interval, 1.07–2.77; <I>p</I> = 0.026). The association was stronger among older (age > 60 years) and female respondents.</P><P><B><I>Conclusion</I>:</B> Deficiency in social network betweenness is closely related to coronary calcium in participants with a high risk of CVD. To generalize these results to a general population, further study should be performed.</P>