title: Low socio-economic position is associated with poor social networks and social support: results from the Heinz Nixdorf Recall Study.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Social networks and social support are supposed to contribute to the development of unequal health within populations. However, little is known about their socio-economic distribution. In this study, we explore this distribution.
  
  
  METHODS
  This study analyses the association of two indicators of socio-economic position, education and income, with different measures of social networks and support. Cross-sectional data have been derived from the baseline examination of an epidemiological cohort study of 4.814 middle aged urban inhabitants in Germany (Heinz Nixdorf Recall Study). Bivariate and multivariate logistic regression analysis were carried out to estimate the risk of having poor social networks and support across socio-economic groups.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Socially disadvantaged persons more often report poor social networks and social support. In multivariate analyses, based on education, odds ratios range from 1.0 (highest education) to 4.9 (lowest education) in a graded way. Findings based on income show similar effects, ranging from 1.0 to 2.5. There is one exception: no association of SEP with close ties living nearby and regularly seen was observed.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Poor social networks and low social support are more frequent among socio-economically disadvantaged people. To some extent, this finding varies according to the indicator chosen to measure these social constructs.
authors.affiliation: Department of Medical Sociology, University Duesseldorf, Heinrich-Heine-Universität Duesseldorf, Universitätsstrasse 1, Duesseldorf, Germany. weyerss@uni-duesseldorf.de.
authors.forename: Simone
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Weyers
authors.forename: Nico
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Dragano
authors.forename: Susanne
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Möbus
authors.forename: Eva-Maria
authors.initials: EM
authors.lastname: Beck
authors.forename: Andreas
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Stang
authors.forename: Stephan
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Möhlenkamp
authors.forename: Karl Heinz
authors.initials: KH
authors.lastname: Jöckel
authors.forename: Raimund
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Erbel
authors.forename: Johannes
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Siegrist