[EQ] Inequalities in health by social class dimensions in European countries of different political traditions

Inequalities in health by social class dimensions in European countries of different political traditions

 

Albert Espelt1,2, Carme Borrell 1,3,4,*, Maica Rodríguez-Sanz 1,3, Carles Muntaner 5, M Isabel Pasarín 1,3,4, Joan Benach 3,7,
Maartje Schaap 6, Anton E Kunst 6 and Vicente Navarro 4,8

1 Agència de Salut Pública de Barcelona, Barcelona, Spain.

2 Consorci de Serveis Socials de Barcelona, Barcelona, Spain.

3 CIBER de Epidemiología y Salud Pública (CIBERESP), Spain.

4 Universitat Pompeu Fabra, Barcelona, Spain.

5 Social Equity and Health Section, Center for Addictions and Mental Health and Faculty of Nursing, University of Toronto, Toronto, Canada.

6 Department of Public Health, University Medical Centre, Rotterdam, The Netherlands.

7 Health Inequalities Research Group, Occupational Health Research Unit, Universitat Pompeu Fabra, Barcelona, Spain.

8 Department of Health Policy and Management, Johns Hopkins University, USA.

 

International Journal of Epidemiology - March 13, 2008

 

Website:

http://ije.oxfordjournals.org/cgi/content/full/dyn051v1?maxtoshow=&HITS=10&hits=10&RESULTFORMAT=1&author1=borrell&andorexacttitle=and&andorexacttitleabs=and&andorexactfulltext=and&searchid=1&FIRSTINDEX=0&sortspec=relevance&fdate=1/1/2008&resourcetype=HWCIT

 

Objective To compare inequalities in self-perceived health in the population older than 50 years, in 2004, using Wright's social class dimensions, in nine European countries grouped in three political traditions (Social democracy, Christian democracy and Late democracies).

 

Methods Cross-sectional design, including data of the Survey of Health, Ageing and Retirement in Europe (Sweden, Denmark, Austria, France, Germany, The Netherlands, Spain, Italy and Greece). The population aged from 50 to 74 years was included. Absolute and relative social class dimension inequalities in poor self-reported health and long-term illness were determined for each sex and political tradition. Relative inequalities were assessed by fitting Poisson regression models with robust variance estimators.

 

Results Absolute and relative health inequalities by social class dimensions are found in the three political traditions, but these differences are more marked in Late democracies and mainly among women. For example the prevalence ratio of poor self-perceived health comparing poorly educated women with highly educated women, was 1.75 (95% CI: 1.39–2.21) in Late democracies and 1.36 (95% CI: 1.21–1.52) in Social democracies. The prevalence differences were 24.2 and 13.7%, respectively.

 

Conclusion This study is one of the first to show the impact of different political traditions on social class inequalities in health. These results emphasize the need to evaluate the impact of the implementation of public policies.

 

Abstract

 

 *      *      *     * 

This message from the Pan American Health Organization, PAHO/WHO, is part of an effort to disseminate
information Related to: Equity; Health inequality; Socioeconomic inequality in health; Socioeconomic
health differentials; Gender; Violence; Poverty; Health Economics; Health Legislation; Ethnicity; Ethics;
Information Technology - Virtual libraries; Research & Science issues.  [DD/ KMS Area] 

“Materials provided in this electronic list are provided "as is".Unless expressly stated otherwise, the findings
and interpretations included in the Materials are those of the authors and not necessarily of The Pan American
Health Organization PAHO/WHO or its country members”.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
PAHO/WHO Website: http://www.paho.org/
EQUITY List - Archives - Join/remove: http://listserv.paho.org/Archives/equidad.html

 

 

 

    IMPORTANT: This transmission is for use by the intended recipient and it may contain privileged, proprietary or confidential information. If you are not the intended recipient or a person responsible for delivering this transmission to the intended recipient, you may not disclose, copy or distribute this transmission or take any action in reliance on it. If you received this transmission in error, please notify us immediately by email to infosec@paho.org, and please dispose of and delete this transmission. Thank you.