Ana Isabel Ribeiro1,2, Sílvia Fraga3,4, Liane Correia-Costa3,5,6, Cathal McCrory7, Henrique Barros3,4. 1. EPIUnit - Instituto de Saúde Pública, Universidade do Porto, Porto, Portugal. ana.isabel.ribeiro@ispup.up.pt. 2. Departamento de Ciências da Saúde Pública e Forenses e Educação Médica, Faculdade de Medicina, Universidade do Porto, Porto, Portugal. ana.isabel.ribeiro@ispup.up.pt. 3. EPIUnit - Instituto de Saúde Pública, Universidade do Porto, Porto, Portugal. 4. Departamento de Ciências da Saúde Pública e Forenses e Educação Médica, Faculdade de Medicina, Universidade do Porto, Porto, Portugal. 5. Division of Pediatric Nephrology, Centro Materno Infantil do Norte, Centro Hospitalar do Porto, Porto, Portugal. 6. Instituto de Ciências Biomédicas Abel Salazar, University of Porto, Porto, Portugal. 7. The Irish Longitudinal Study on Ageing, Trinity College Dublin, Dublin, Ireland.
Abstract
BACKGROUND: Measuring early socioeconomic inequalities in health provides evidence to understand the patterns of disease. Thus, our aim was to determine which children's health outcomes are patterned by socioeconomics and to what extent the magnitude/direction of the differences vary by socioeconomic measure and outcome. METHODS: Data on early childhood (4 years) health was obtained from Generation XXI birth cohort (n = 8647). A total of 27 health outcomes and 13 socioeconomic indicators at the individual level and neighbourhood level were used to calculate the relative index of inequality (RII). RESULTS: Socioeconomic inequalities were evident across 21 of the 27 health outcomes. Education, occupation and income more often captured inequalities, compared with neighbourhood deprivation or employment status. Using highest maternal education as reference category, we observed that seizures (RII = 8.64), obesity (2.94), abdominal obesity (2.66), urinary tract infection (2.26), language/speech problems (2.24), hypertension (2.08) and insulin resistance (1.33) were heavily socially patterned, much more common in disadvantaged children. Contrastingly, eczema (0.26) and rhinitis (0.26) were more common among more advantaged children. CONCLUSIONS: Socioeconomic inequalities were evident for almost every health outcome assessed, although with varying magnitude/direction according to the socioeconomic indicator and outcome. Our results reinforce that the social gradient in health manifests early in childhood.
BACKGROUND: Measuring early socioeconomic inequalities in health provides evidence to understand the patterns of disease. Thus, our aim was to determine which children's health outcomes are patterned by socioeconomics and to what extent the magnitude/direction of the differences vary by socioeconomic measure and outcome. METHODS: Data on early childhood (4 years) health was obtained from Generation XXI birth cohort (n = 8647). A total of 27 health outcomes and 13 socioeconomic indicators at the individual level and neighbourhood level were used to calculate the relative index of inequality (RII). RESULTS: Socioeconomic inequalities were evident across 21 of the 27 health outcomes. Education, occupation and income more often captured inequalities, compared with neighbourhood deprivation or employment status. Using highest maternal education as reference category, we observed that seizures (RII = 8.64), obesity (2.94), abdominal obesity (2.66), urinary tract infection (2.26), language/speech problems (2.24), hypertension (2.08) and insulin resistance (1.33) were heavily socially patterned, much more common in disadvantaged children. Contrastingly, eczema (0.26) and rhinitis (0.26) were more common among more advantaged children. CONCLUSIONS: Socioeconomic inequalities were evident for almost every health outcome assessed, although with varying magnitude/direction according to the socioeconomic indicator and outcome. Our results reinforce that the social gradient in health manifests early in childhood.
Authors: Inês Paciência; André Moreira; João Cavaleiro Rufo; Ana Cristina Santos; Henrique Barros; Ana Isabel Ribeiro Journal: J Urban Health Date: 2022-01-23 Impact factor: 5.801
Authors: Joan A Casey; Kara E Rudolph; Sarah C Robinson; Katia Bruxvoort; Eva Raphael; Vennis Hong; Alice Pressman; Rachel Morello-Frosch; Rong X Wei; Sara Y Tartof Journal: Open Forum Infect Dis Date: 2021-05-26 Impact factor: 3.835