Income-related inequality in mental health in Britain: the concentration index approach
Income-related inequality in mental health in Britain: the concentration index approach
复制标题
DOI：
10.1017/s003329170600969x
复制
发表时间：
2007-07-01
影响因子：
6.9
通讯作者：
Jenkins, Rachel
中科院分区：
文献类型：
--
作者：
Mangalore, Roshni;Knapp, Martin;Jenkins, Rachel
背景资料。减少健康不平等是英国的一个主要政策目标。虽然人们普遍认识到有心理健康问题的人处于不利地位，但不平等的程度，特别是与社会经济特征的联系，尚未得到广泛研究。我们的目标是衡量精神疾病分布中与收入相关的不平等，并与其他健康领域的不平等进行比较。使用集中指数(CI)方法，使用2000年英国精神病学发病率调查的数据来检验与收入相关的心理健康不平等。在精神健康障碍方面，存在着明显的不平等，这对低收入群体不利。不平等的程度随着问题的严重程度而增加，其中精神病的不平等程度最大。在英国，与收入相关的精神疾病不平等程度高于一般健康状况。标准化的CIS表明，这些不平等不是由于收入五分位数的人口结构造成的。在英国，与收入相关的不平等现象在心理健康方面存在。由于观察到的不平等很大程度上可能是由于与收入相关的因素，而不是由于收入五分之一的人口构成，因此这些不平等可能是潜在的“可以避免的”。
Background. Reduction of health inequalities is a major policy goal in the UK. While there is general recognition of the disadvantaged position of people with mental health problems, the extent of inequality, particularly the association with socio-economic characteristics, has not been widely studied. We aimed to measure income-related inequality in the distribution of psychiatric disorders and to compare with inequality in other health domains.Method. The concentration index (CI) approach was used to examine income-related inequality in mental health using data from the Psychiatric Morbidity Survey 2000 for Britain.Results. There is marked inequality unfavourable to lower income groups with respect to mental health disorders. The extent of inequality increases with the severity of problems, with the greatest inequality observed for psychosis. Income-related inequality for psychiatric disorders is higher than for general health in the UK. Standardized CIS suggest that these inequalities are not due to the demographic composition of the income quintiles.Conclusions. Income-related inequalities exist in mental health in Britain. As much of the observed inequality is probably due to factors associated with income and not due to the demographic composition of the income quintiles, it may be that these inequalities are potentially 'avoidable'.