Dataset Information

Poverty Does Make Us Sick.

ABSTRACT: This study evaluates the direct causal effects of household wealth on health. We discuss several specific mechanisms that that could relate poverty with worse health and hypothesize that poverty will undermine population health. This hypothesis was tested based on data drawn from a recent cross-country survey in 12 post-Soviet countries and Mongolia using classic regression (OLS) and instrumental variable 2SLS regressions. The results indicate that poverty does indeed lead to worsening health. This negative effect of poverty on health remains unchanged after controlling for a wide range of individual characteristics, healthcare performance indicators, trust in individuals, government, parliament, and political parties, as well as country-level unobserved characteristics. Using an instrumental variable increases our confidence in being able to isolate the effects of poverty on health status and confirms that our results are not due to endogeneity. In addition, the strong negative effect of poverty on health remains robust to the use of a set of country-level aggregated indicators (e.g. GDP and Gini) instead of country dummies, the employment of a subjective self-assessment indicator of poverty instead of an objective one, and an alternative conceptualization of health status as a binomial variable (for bad and very bad health) instead of a continuous one.

SUBMITTER: Habibov N

PROVIDER: S-EPMC6634464 | biostudies-literature | 2019 Mar

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

ACCESS DATA

Publications

Poverty Does Make Us Sick.

Habibov Nazim N Auchynnikava Alena A Luo Rong R

Annals of global health 20190313 1

This study evaluates the direct causal effects of household wealth on health. We discuss several specific mechanisms that that could relate poverty with worse health and hypothesize that poverty will undermine population health. This hypothesis was tested based on data drawn from a recent cross-country survey in 12 post-Soviet countries and Mongolia using classic regression (OLS) and instrumental variable 2SLS regressions. The results indicate that poverty does indeed lead to worsening health. T ...[more]

PMID: 30873818

Similar Datasets

Project description:At advanced stages, cancer, congestive heart failure (CHF), and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) produce high rates of hospitalization, disability, and annual mortality. Despite similar prognoses, patients with cancer often are treated differently than those with other illnesses, the former being seen as terminal vs. chronic.The purpose of this study was to compare the functional capacity, emotional well-being, and quality of life of patients in three disease groups to assess whether diagnosis distinguishes differences in patient experience, and compare patients with cancer and noncancer diagnoses.Baseline data from a cohort study of 210 patients who had an estimated 50% two-year mortality were analyzed. The patients had Stage IV breast, prostate, or colon cancer; Stage IIIb or IV lung cancer; New York Heart Association Stage III or IV CHF with a left ventricular ejection fraction of <40%; or COPD with hypercapnea (pC02>46) and at least one hospitalization or Emergency Department visit during the past year. Measures included the Rosow-Breslau Activities of Daily Living/Instrumental Activities of Daily Living tool, Profile of Mood States anxiety subscale, brief Centers for Epidemiologic Studies Depression Scale, and the Functional Assessment of Cancer Therapy-General quality-of-life instrument. Analyses included descriptive statistics, analysis of variance, and adjusted linear regression models.A majority of illness outcomes did not differ by diagnostic category. Functional status was associated with diagnosis, with CHF and COPD patients faring worse than those with cancer. Overall, illness experience was most significantly related to disease severity, demographics, and emotional and social well-being.Comparing patients with advanced cancer, CHF, and COPD, illness experience was more similar than different. Patients living with life-limiting illnesses other than cancer may benefit from whole-person services often extended to cancer patients.

Project description:ObjectivesPoverty exposes children to adverse conditions that negatively impact development. However, there is limited understanding on how different types of poverty may affect children of various immigration backgrounds differently in outcomes such as school readiness. This study examined these relationships between household and/or neighbourhood poverty, poverty timing, and immigration background with school readiness outcomes at kindergarten.MethodsThis study utilized a retrospective, population-based cohort of administrative records linked with surveys completed by kindergarten teachers for 15 369 children born in British Columbia, Canada. The exposures investigated were neighbourhood poverty (residing in a neighbourhood in the lowest income-quintile) and/or household poverty (receiving a health insurance subsidy due to low household income). Experiencing both neighbourhood and household poverty simultaneously was defined as "combined" household and neighbourhood poverty. The outcome of vulnerability on school readiness domains was assessed at kindergarten (47.8% female; mean age = 6.01 years) using teacher ratings on the Early Development Instrument (EDI).ResultsChildren exposed to combined poverty between age 0 and 2 had greater odds of being vulnerable in two or more domains of school readiness than children not exposed to any poverty during this period (adjusted odds ratio (aOR) = 2.07, 95% CI: [1.74; 2.47], p < 0.001). The effect of combined poverty was larger than household poverty only (aOR = 1.54, 95% CI: [1.31; 1.82], p < 0.001) or neighbourhood poverty only (aOR = 1.49, 95% CI: [1.30; 1.70], p < 0.001). Combined poverty was associated with negative outcomes regardless of timing. Both non-immigrants (aOR = 2.40, 95% CI: [1.92; 3.00], p < 0.001) and second-generation immigrants (aOR = 1.63, 95% CI: [1.22; 2.17], p < 0.001) experiencing combined poverty scored lower on school readiness.ConclusionsChildren who experienced combined poverty had lower levels of school readiness at kindergarten, regardless of timing and immigration background.

Dataset Information

Poverty Does Make Us Sick.

Publications

Poverty Does Make Us Sick.

Similar Datasets

OmicsDI is part of the ELIXIR infrastructure

Tweets