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Comparing health inequality in men and women: prospective study of mortality 1986-96.

ABSTRACT: OBJECTIVES:To study prospectively the differences in health inequality in men and women from 1986-96 using the Office for National Statistics' longitudinal study and new socioeconomic classification. To assess the relative importance of social class (based on employment characteristics) and social position according to the general social advantage of the household to mortality risk in men and women. DESIGN:Prospective study. SETTING:England and Wales. SUBJECTS:Men and women of working age at the time of the 1981 census, with a recorded occupation. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES:Mortality. RESULTS:In men, social class based on employment relations, measured according to the Office for National Statistics' socioeconomic classification, was the most important influence on mortality. In women, social class based on individual employment relations and conditions showed only a weak gradient. Large differences in risk of mortality in women were found, however, when social position was measured according to the general social advantage in the household. CONCLUSIONS:Comparisons of the extent of health inequality in men and women are affected by the measures of social inequality used. For women, even those in paid work, classifications based on characteristics of the employment situation may give a considerable underestimate. The Office for National Statistics' new measure of socioeconomic position is useful for assessing health inequality in men, but in women a more important predictor of mortality is inequality in general social advantage of the household.

SUBMITTER: Sacker A

PROVIDER: S-EPMC27373 | biostudies-literature | 2000 May

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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Comparing health inequality in men and women: prospective study of mortality 1986-96.

Sacker A A Firth D D Fitzpatrick R R Lynch K K Bartley M M

BMJ (Clinical research ed.) 20000501 7245

<h4>Objectives</h4>To study prospectively the differences in health inequality in men and women from 1986-96 using the Office for National Statistics' longitudinal study and new socioeconomic classification. To assess the relative importance of social class (based on employment characteristics) and social position according to the general social advantage of the household to mortality risk in men and women.<h4>Design</h4>Prospective study.<h4>Setting</h4>England and Wales.<h4>Subjects</h4>Men an ...[more]

PMID: 10807620

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Project description:BACKGROUND:Musculoskeletal (MSK) pain affects many people worldwide and has a great impact on general health and quality of life. However, the relationship between MSK pain and mortality is not clear. This study aimed to investigate all-cause and cause-specific mortality in relation to self-reported MSK pain within the last 14?days, including spread of pain and pain intensity. METHODS:This prospective cohort study included a representative cohort of 4806 men and women aged 16+ years, who participated in a Danish MSK survey 1990-1991. The survey comprised questions on MSK pain, including spread of pain and pain intensity. These data were linked with the Danish Register of Causes of Death to obtain information on cause of death. Mean follow-up was 19.1?years. Cox regression analyses were performed with adjustment for potential confounders. RESULTS:In the study population (mean age 44.5?years; 47.9% men), 41.0% had experienced MSK pain within the last 14?days and 1372 persons died during follow-up. For both sexes, increased all-cause mortality with higher spread and intensity of MSK pain was observed; a high risk was observed especially for men with strong pain (HR?=?1.66; 95% CI:1.09-2.53) and women with widespread pain (HR?=?1.49; 95% CI:1.16-1.92). MSK pain within last 14?days yielded c-statistics of 0.544 and 0.887 with age added. Moreover, persons with strong MSK pain had an increased cardiovascular mortality, persons with moderate pain and pain in two areas had an increased risk of cancer mortality, and persons with widespread pain had an increased risk of respiratory mortality. CONCLUSIONS:Overall, persons experiencing MSK pain had a higher risk of mortality. The increased mortality was not accounted for by potential confounders. However, when evaluating these results, it is important to take the possibility of unmeasured confounders into account as we had no information on e.g. BMI etc. SIGNIFICANCE: The present study provides new insights into the long-term consequences of MSK pain. However, the discriminatory accuracy of MSK pain was low, which indicates that this information cannot stand alone when predicting mortality risk.

Project description:BACKGROUND:It is not known whether equity-oriented primary care investment that seeks to scale up the delivery of effective care in disadvantaged communities can reduce health inequality within high-income settings that have pre-existing universal primary care systems. We provide some non-randomised controlled evidence by comparing health inequality trends between two similar jurisdictions-one of which implemented equity-oriented primary care investment in the mid-to-late 2000s as part of a cross-government strategy for reducing health inequality (England), and one which invested in primary care without any explicit equity objective (Ontario, Canada). METHODS:We analysed whole-population data on 32,482 neighbourhoods (with mean population size of approximately 1,500 people) in England, and 18,961 neighbourhoods (with mean population size of approximately 700 people) in Ontario. We examined trends in mortality amenable to healthcare by decile groups of neighbourhood deprivation within each jurisdiction. We used linear models to estimate absolute and relative gaps in amenable mortality between most and least deprived groups, considering the gradient between these extremes, and evaluated difference-in-difference comparisons between the two jurisdictions. RESULTS:Inequality trends were comparable in both jurisdictions from 2004-6 but diverged from 2007-11. Compared with Ontario, the absolute gap in amenable mortality in England fell between 2004-6 and 2007-11 by 19.8 per 100,000 population (95% CI: 4.8 to 34.9); and the relative gap in amenable mortality fell by 10 percentage points (95% CI: 1 to 19). The biggest divergence occurred in the most deprived decile group of neighbourhoods. DISCUSSION:In comparison to Ontario, England succeeded in reducing absolute socioeconomic gaps in mortality amenable to healthcare from 2007 to 2011, and preventing them from growing in relative terms. Equity-oriented primary care reform in England in the mid-to-late 2000s may have helped to reduce socioeconomic inequality in health, though other explanations for this divergence are possible and further research is needed on the specific causal mechanisms.

Dataset Information

Comparing health inequality in men and women: prospective study of mortality 1986-96.

Publications

Comparing health inequality in men and women: prospective study of mortality 1986-96.

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