Socioeconomic inequalities in health

doi:10.1136/bmj.39203.661829.BE

BMJ 2007;334:963-964 (12 May), doi:10.1136/bmj.39203.661829.BE

Editorials

Socioeconomic inequalities in health

Are important but the effects of age and sex may be overlooked

The first 150 words of the full text of this article appear below.

Socioeconomic differences in health have been described sincethe 16th and 17th centuries,¹ ² but only recently has reducingthem been central to public health policy in many Western countries.³Over the past three decades, epidemiological studies have confirmedthe existence of socioeconomic inequalities in a range of healthoutcomes, including premature mortality, cardiovascular disease,obesity, diabetes, self reported ill health, and smoking relatedcancers, and have explored potential mechanisms linking lowersocioeconomic position to poorer health.⁴ The Whitehall cohortstudies have made important contributions to this literature.⁵

Several studies,⁶ ⁷ ⁸ ⁹ including a publication from WhitehallII,¹⁰ have found that poorer socioeconomic position is associatedwith worse morbidity, mortality, and self reported health inolder people. In this week's BMJ, a new analysis of data fromWhitehall II by Chandola and colleagues examines the extentto which socioeconomic inequalities in self reported physicaland mental health continue into older age.¹¹ The . . . [Full text of this article]

Debbie A Lawlor, professor of epidemiology, Jonathan A C Sterne, professor of medical statistics and epidemiology

Department of Social Medicine, University of Bristol, Bristol BS8 2PR

d.a.lawlor@bristol.ac.uk

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Social inequalities in self reported health in early old age: follow-up of prospective cohort study: Tarani Chandola, Jane Ferrie, Amanda Sacker, and Michael Marmot
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confusing title: Chic Pillai
bmj.com, 12 May 2007 [Full text]
Confusing? Or euphemistic?: Anthony E J Fitchett
bmj.com, 13 May 2007 [Full text]