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The demographic and social class basis of inequality in self reported morbidity: an exploration using the Health Survey for England

The demographic and social class basis of inequality in self reported morbidity: an exploration using the Health Survey for England
The demographic and social class basis of inequality in self reported morbidity: an exploration using the Health Survey for England
Study objectives: To assess the relative contribution of age and social class to variations in the prevalence of a selection of self reported health problems. To examine the implications of observed variations for research on health inequalities.
Design: Secondary analysis of the Health Survey for England (1991–1997) using morbidities that are particularly prone to class effects. A statistical measure of the "relative class effect" is introduced to compare the effects of adjusting for social class and age.
Main results: There is substantial variation in the relative importance of the age and class distributions of different diseases. Age effects often overshadow those of class even for conditions where an apparently strong social gradient exists. Only for self reported mental health among women does the social gradient exceed the age gradient. Within the context of a dominating age gradient, social gradients are relatively high for mental health and general health for both sexes. Variation in the relative strengths of the social gradients between the sexes are observed for angina symptoms.
Conclusions: Given variations in the "relative class effect", analysis recognising the distinct contributions of age, sex, and social class to specific morbidities is advocated as a transparent and robust approach to the assessment of morbidity based inequality.
morbidity, demography, socioeconomic status
0143-005X
303-307
Asthana, S.
a3cac6e7-fb76-4330-ae25-f47affd99d9d
Gibson, A.
5d8d6adb-7966-43c0-aafb-1564ee2e662d
Moon, G.
68cffc4d-72c1-41e9-b1fa-1570c5f3a0b4
Brigham, P.
127023cd-f32a-4fe4-bc16-dc86a1ac0f21
Dicker, J.
10c67be0-6f8a-40c9-a8f0-dfdd07f93687
Asthana, S.
a3cac6e7-fb76-4330-ae25-f47affd99d9d
Gibson, A.
5d8d6adb-7966-43c0-aafb-1564ee2e662d
Moon, G.
68cffc4d-72c1-41e9-b1fa-1570c5f3a0b4
Brigham, P.
127023cd-f32a-4fe4-bc16-dc86a1ac0f21
Dicker, J.
10c67be0-6f8a-40c9-a8f0-dfdd07f93687

Asthana, S., Gibson, A., Moon, G., Brigham, P. and Dicker, J. (2004) The demographic and social class basis of inequality in self reported morbidity: an exploration using the Health Survey for England. Journal of Epidemiology and Community Health, 58 (4), 303-307. (doi:10.1136/jech.2002.003475).

Record type: Article

Abstract

Study objectives: To assess the relative contribution of age and social class to variations in the prevalence of a selection of self reported health problems. To examine the implications of observed variations for research on health inequalities.
Design: Secondary analysis of the Health Survey for England (1991–1997) using morbidities that are particularly prone to class effects. A statistical measure of the "relative class effect" is introduced to compare the effects of adjusting for social class and age.
Main results: There is substantial variation in the relative importance of the age and class distributions of different diseases. Age effects often overshadow those of class even for conditions where an apparently strong social gradient exists. Only for self reported mental health among women does the social gradient exceed the age gradient. Within the context of a dominating age gradient, social gradients are relatively high for mental health and general health for both sexes. Variation in the relative strengths of the social gradients between the sexes are observed for angina symptoms.
Conclusions: Given variations in the "relative class effect", analysis recognising the distinct contributions of age, sex, and social class to specific morbidities is advocated as a transparent and robust approach to the assessment of morbidity based inequality.

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More information

Published date: 2004
Keywords: morbidity, demography, socioeconomic status
Organisations: Economy Culture & Space, PHEW – P (Population Health)

Identifiers

Local EPrints ID: 55396
URI: http://eprints.soton.ac.uk/id/eprint/55396
ISSN: 0143-005X
PURE UUID: 5de640ed-557b-4fcc-82b2-5b8ffd0f52ce
ORCID for G. Moon: ORCID iD orcid.org/0000-0002-7256-8397

Catalogue record

Date deposited: 31 Jul 2008
Last modified: 16 Mar 2024 03:53

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Contributors

Author: S. Asthana
Author: A. Gibson
Author: G. Moon ORCID iD
Author: P. Brigham
Author: J. Dicker

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