Abstract
AbstractHealth inequalities—systematic differences in health outcomes between social groups and across spatial units—are ubiquitous, but not necessarily inevitable. They are the product of a complex interplay of social and economic processes operating at various scales. The unequal pattern of infection and death seen in the Covid‐19 pandemic has served to highlight the stark social gradient in health that exists within many European countries. Although the complex social determinants of health have been studied for many decades, there is still a great deal of work to do to elucidate explanations for health inequalities across time and space. To rise to the challenge, we need high‐quality, representative data capable of capturing multi‐scalar longitudinal processes. This special issue brings together eight new studies which all use national population register data linked with various other sources of administrative data (e.g., residence, tax and health records) to investigate different vectors of inequalities in health and mortality, covering spatial, socioeconomic, ethnic and migrant status. This editorial outlines their contributions, argues for the invaluable role of population register data to understand health inequalities and suggests promising future research avenues.
Highlights
Previous studies using data from England and Wales have found that, contrary to what we might expect in high income countries with high levels of universal healthcare, socioeconomic status (SES) disparities are more acute for amenable causes compared with non-amenable causes, as their prevention and treatment is linked to the ‘fundamental causes’ of health inequality—factors related to SES attainment, such as resources, knowledge, social capital and status (Mackenbach et al, 2015)
Drawing on the rich data available from the Belgium 2011 Census linked to tax records and mortality up to 2015, they explore migrant-native differentials and spatial variation in all-cause mortality by duration of residence controlling for age, household composition, activity status, income and housing characteristics
This diverse collection convincingly demonstrates the enormous utility and potential of register data to advance our understanding of health inequalities
Summary
Using aggregate data on the whole population over a 25-year period, the study is the first to assess regional inequalities in life expectancy and an innovative new measure of health inequality— lifespan inequality—for these countries, and to compare regional dynamics over time. This unique dataset enables the authors to investigate mortality risk between 2011 and 2017, making use of rich set of covariates at multiple scales: individual-level covariates from the 2011 census; area-level covariates measuring socioeconomic status (SES) factors, deprivation and social cohesion and rural–urban residence and lifetime migration.
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a callDisclaimer: All third-party content on this website/platform is and will remain the property of their respective owners and is provided on "as is" basis without any warranties, express or implied. Use of third-party content does not indicate any affiliation, sponsorship with or endorsement by them. Any references to third-party content is to identify the corresponding services and shall be considered fair use under The CopyrightLaw.
