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Abstract
BackgroundSocioeconomic inequalities in adolescent health predict future inequalities in adult health. Subjective measures of socioeconomic status (SES) may contribute with an increased understanding of these inequalities. The aim of this study was to investigate socioeconomic health inequalities using both a subjective and an objective measure of SES among Swedish adolescents.MethodCross-sectional HBSC-data from 2002 to 2014 was used with a total sample of 23,088 adolescents aged 11–15 years. Three measures of self-rated health (dependent variables) were assessed: multiple health complaints, life satisfaction and health perception. SES was measured objectively by the Family Affluence Scale (FAS) and subjectively by “perceived family wealth” (independent variables). The trend for health inequalities was investigated descriptively with independent t-tests and the relationship between independent and dependent variables was investigated with multiple logistic regression analysis. Gender, age and survey year was considered as possible confounders.ResultsSubjective SES was more strongly related to health outcomes than the objective measure (FAS). Also, the relation between FAS and health was weakened and even reversed (for multiple health complaints) when subjective SES was tested simultaneously in regression models (FAS OR: 1.03, CI: 1.00;1.06 and subjective SES OR: 0.66, CI: 0.63;0.68).ConclusionsThe level of socioeconomic inequalities in adolescent health varied depending on which measure that was used to define SES. When focusing on adolescents, the subjective appraisals of SES is important to consider because they seem to provide a stronger tool for identifying inequalities in health for this group. This finding is important for policy makers to consider given the persistence of health inequalities in Sweden and other high-income countries.
Highlights
Socioeconomic inequalities in adolescent health predict future inequalities in adult health
Girls were overrepresented in multiple health complaints (MHC), low life satisfaction and poor/ fair health perception compared to boys
The percentage of adolescents who reported MHC, low life satisfaction and poor/fair health perception was highest among 15-year olds
Summary
Socioeconomic inequalities in adolescent health predict future inequalities in adult health. The aim of this study was to investigate socioeconomic health inequalities using both a subjective and an objective measure of SES among Swedish adolescents. When focusing on socioeconomic inequalities in adolescent health within the Swedish context, there are some issues that should be addressed to increase our understanding of where Sweden stands today. Even though the gradient is stronger in countries of high income-inequality, it has been found significant in the Swedish context comparing parental income and child health [9]. Compared to Norway and Finland, countries that are comparable in levels of macro- and micro-SES [5, 12, 13], Sweden stands out by displaying a higher prevalence of self-rated health complaints (e.g. headache, abdominal pain or feeling low) among adolescents. Adolescents have difficulties responding adequately to some measures, such as parental occupation, which can pose a challenge for research when adolescents are the only source of information [15]
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