Socioeconomic disparities in health in the United States: what the patterns tell us
- PMID: 20147693
- PMCID: PMC2837459
- DOI: 10.2105/AJPH.2009.166082
Socioeconomic disparities in health in the United States: what the patterns tell us
Abstract
Objectives: We aimed to describe socioeconomic disparities in the United States across multiple health indicators and socioeconomic groups.
Methods: Using recent national data on 5 child (infant mortality, health status, activity limitation, healthy eating, sedentary adolescents) and 6 adult (life expectancy, health status, activity limitation, heart disease, diabetes, obesity) health indicators, we examined indicator rates across multiple income or education categories, overall and within racial/ethnic groups.
Results: Those with the lowest income and who were least educated were consistently least healthy, but for most indicators, even groups with intermediate income and education levels were less healthy than the wealthiest and most educated. Gradient patterns were seen often among non-Hispanic Blacks and Whites but less consistently among Hispanics.
Conclusions: Health in the United States is often, though not invariably, patterned strongly along both socioeconomic and racial/ethnic lines, suggesting links between hierarchies of social advantage and health. Worse health among the most socially disadvantaged argues for policies prioritizing those groups, but pervasive gradient patterns also indicate a need to address a wider socioeconomic spectrum-which may help garner political support. Routine health reporting should examine socioeconomic and racial/ethnic disparity patterns, jointly and separately.
Figures
![FIGURE 1](https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/instance/2837459/bin/S186fig1.gif)
![FIGURE 2](https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/instance/2837459/bin/S186fig2.gif)
Similar articles
-
Does socioeconomic status account for racial and ethnic disparities in childhood cancer survival?Cancer. 2018 Oct 15;124(20):4090-4097. doi: 10.1002/cncr.31560. Epub 2018 Aug 20. Cancer. 2018. PMID: 30125340 Free PMC article.
-
Child health in the United States: recent trends in racial/ethnic disparities.Soc Sci Med. 2013 Oct;95:6-15. doi: 10.1016/j.socscimed.2012.09.011. Epub 2012 Sep 17. Soc Sci Med. 2013. PMID: 23034508 Free PMC article.
-
Annual report on health care for children and youth in the United States: racial/ethnic and socioeconomic disparities in children's health care quality.Acad Pediatr. 2010 Mar-Apr;10(2):95-118. doi: 10.1016/j.acap.2009.12.005. Acad Pediatr. 2010. PMID: 20206909
-
Racial and ethnic disparities in children's oral health: the National Survey of Children's Health.J Am Dent Assoc. 2008 Nov;139(11):1507-17. doi: 10.14219/jada.archive.2008.0077. J Am Dent Assoc. 2008. PMID: 18978389
-
Explaining US racial/ethnic disparities in health declines and mortality in late middle age: the roles of socioeconomic status, health behaviors, and health insurance.Soc Sci Med. 2006 Feb;62(4):909-22. doi: 10.1016/j.socscimed.2005.06.041. Epub 2005 Aug 2. Soc Sci Med. 2006. PMID: 16055252
Cited by
-
Development and Validation of an Individual Socioeconomic Deprivation Index (ISDI) in the NIH's All of Us Data Network.AMIA Jt Summits Transl Sci Proc. 2024 May 31;2024:36-45. eCollection 2024. AMIA Jt Summits Transl Sci Proc. 2024. PMID: 38827060 Free PMC article.
-
Social determinants of health correlations and resource usefulness at a Milwaukee free clinic for uninsured individuals: A cross-sectional study.J Clin Transl Sci. 2024 Apr 25;8(1):e71. doi: 10.1017/cts.2024.503. eCollection 2024. J Clin Transl Sci. 2024. PMID: 38690226 Free PMC article.
-
A comparison of chronic conditions between transgender and cisgender individuals with recent incarceration and in the community in a United States county.Int J Transgend Health. 2023 Nov 14;25(2):187-198. doi: 10.1080/26895269.2023.2280175. eCollection 2024. Int J Transgend Health. 2023. PMID: 38681500
-
Role of Insulin Use and Social Determinants of Health on Non-melanoma Skin Cancer: Results From the Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System.Cancer Control. 2024 Jan-Dec;31:10732748241249896. doi: 10.1177/10732748241249896. Cancer Control. 2024. PMID: 38680117 Free PMC article.
-
Socioeconomic and Other Risk Factors for Retear after Arthroscopic Surgery for Nontraumatic Rotator Cuff Tear.Medicina (Kaunas). 2024 Apr 17;60(4):640. doi: 10.3390/medicina60040640. Medicina (Kaunas). 2024. PMID: 38674286 Free PMC article.
References
-
- Fox AJ. Longitudinal studies based on vital registration records. Rev Epidemiol Sante Publique. 1989;37(5–6):443–448 - PubMed
-
- Krieger N, Fee E. Measuring social inequalities in health in the United States: a historical review, 1900–1950. Int J Health Serv. 1996;26(3):391–418 - PubMed
-
- Liberatos P, Link BG, Kelsey JL. The measurement of social class in epidemiology. Epidemiol Rev. 1988;10:87–121 - PubMed
-
- Susser M, Watson W, Hopper K. Sociology in Medicine. 3rd ed. New York, NY: Oxford University Press; 1985
-
- Office for National Statistics, UK The National Statistics Socio-Economic Classification (NS-SEC). Available at: http://www.ons.gov.uk/about-statistics/classifications/current/ns-sec/in.... Accessed July 17, 2009
Publication types
MeSH terms
LinkOut - more resources
Full Text Sources
Medical