IJE Advance Access published online on February 28, 2005
International Journal of Epidemiology, doi:10.1093/ije/dyh386
| ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
1 Department of Public Health, Erasmus MC, P.O. Box 1738, 3000 DR Rotterdam, The Netherlands
* To whom correspondence should be addressed. Background Few studies have compared socioeconomic inequalities in the prevalence of both fatal and non-fatal diseases. This paper aims to give the first international overview for several common chronic diseases. Methods Micro-level data were pooled from non-standardized national health surveys conducted in eight European countries in the 1990s. Surveys ranged in size from 3700 to 41 200 participants. The prevalence of 17 chronic disease groups were analysed in relation to education. Standardized prevalence rates and age-adjusted odds ratios (ORs) were calculated. Results Most diseases showed higher prevalence among the lower education group. Stroke, diseases of the nervous system, diabetes, and arthritis displayed relatively large inequalities (OR > 1.50). No socioeconomic differences were evident for cancer, kidney diseases, and skin diseases. Allergy was more common in the higher education group. Relative socioeconomic differences were often smaller among the 60-79 age group as compared with the 25-59 age group. Cancer was more prevalent among the lower educated in the 25-59 age group, but among the higher educated in the 60-79 age group. For diabetes, hypertension, and heart disease, socioeconomic differences were larger among women as compared with men. Inequalities in heart disease were larger in northern European countries as compared with southern European countries. Conclusion There are large variations between chronic diseases in the size and pattern of socioeconomic differences in their prevalence. The large inequalities that are found for some specific fatal diseases (e.g. stroke) and non-fatal diseases (e.g. arthritis) require special attention in equity-oriented research and policies.
Accepted October 28, 2004
Original paper
Socioeconomic differences in the prevalence of common chronic diseases: an overview of eight European countries
2 Agencia de Salut Publica de Barcelona, Spain
3 Department of Epidemiology and Public Health, University College London, UK
4 Institut National d'Etudes Démographiques (Ined), Paris, France
5 Department of Public Health and Microbiology, University of Turin, Italy
6 Statistics Netherlands, The Netherlands
7 Department of Public Health, University of Helsinki, Finland
8 Scientific Institute of Public Health, Brussels, Belgium
9 National Institute of Public Health, Copenhagen, Denmark
10 Department of Preventive Medicine and Public Health, Universidad Complutense de Madrid, Spain
11 Servizio di Epidemiologia, Piemonte, Italy
J. A. A. Dalstra, E-mail: j.dalstra{at}erasmusmc.nl
Abstract 
CiteULike 
Connotea 
Del.icio.us What's this?
This article has been cited by other articles:
|
|
 |
|
  J. Beckfield and N. Krieger Epi + demos + cracy: Linking Political Systems and Priorities to the Magnitude of Health Inequities--Evidence, Gaps, and a Research Agenda Epidemiol. Rev., November 1, 2009; 31(1): 152 - 177. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]
|
|
|
|
 |
|
 A. Wagner, M. Hann, P. Noyce, and D. Ashcroft Equity in the distribution of community pharmacies in England: impact of regulatory reform J Health Serv Res Policy, October 1, 2009; 14(4): 243 - 248. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]
|
|
|
|
 |
|
 Z. Samaan, A. Farmer, N. Craddock, L. Jones, A. Korszun, M. Owen, and P. McGuffin Migraine in recurrent depression: case-control study The British Journal of Psychiatry, April 1, 2009; 194(4): 350 - 354. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]
|
|
|
|
 |
|
 E. Laaksonen, P. Martikainen, J. Head, O. Rahkonen, M. G. Marmot, and E. Lahelma Associations of multiple socio-economic circumstances with physical functioning among Finnish and British employees Eur J Public Health, January 1, 2009; 19(1): 38 - 45. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]
|
|
|
|
 |
|
 C. A. van Wayenburg, M. B. Lemiengre, A. H van Reenen-Schimmel, J. H. Bor, J C. Bakx, W. A van Staveren, C. van Weel, and J. J van Binsbergen Encounters for common illnesses in general practice increased in obese patients Fam. Pract., December 1, 2008; 25(suppl_1): i93 - i98. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]
|
|
|
|
 |
|
 Hoang Van Minh, Dao Lan Huong, and Kim Bao Giang Self-reported chronic diseases and associated sociodemographic status and lifestyle risk factors among rural Vietnamese adults Scand J Public Health, August 1, 2008; 36(6): 629 - 634. [Abstract] [PDF]
|
|
|
|
 |
|
 S. C. Maty, J. W. Lynch, T. E. Raghunathan, and G. A. Kaplan Childhood Socioeconomic Position, Gender, Adult Body Mass Index, and Incidence of Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus Over 34 Years in the Alameda County Study Am J Public Health, August 1, 2008; 98(8): 1486 - 1494. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]
|
|
|
|
 |
|
 C Fornari, G C Cesana, L E Chambless, G Corrao, R Borchini, F Madotto, M M Ferrario, and for the MONICA Brianza-CAMUNI Research Group Time trends of myocardial infarction 28-day case-fatality in the 1990s: is there a contribution from different changes among socioeconomic classes? J Epidemiol Community Health, July 1, 2008; 62(7): 593 - 598. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]
|
|
|
|
 |
|
 N. Ranjit, A. V. Diez-Roux, S. Shea, M. Cushman, H. Ni, and T. Seeman Socioeconomic Position, Race/Ethnicity, and Inflammation in the Multi-Ethnic Study of Atherosclerosis Circulation, November 20, 2007; 116(21): 2383 - 2390. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]
|
|
|
|
 |
|
 A. Wigertz, S. Lonn, J. Schwartzbaum, P. Hall, A. Auvinen, H. C. Christensen, C. Johansen, L. Klaeboe, T. Salminen, M. J. Schoemaker, et al. Allergic Conditions and Brain Tumor Risk Am. J. Epidemiol., October 15, 2007; 166(8): 941 - 950. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]
|
|
|
|
|
|
N. W J Wainwright, P. G Surtees, A. A Welch, R. N Luben, K.-T. Khaw, and S. A Bingham Healthy lifestyle choices: could sense of coherence aid health promotion? J Epidemiol Community Health, October 1, 2007; 61(10): 871 - 876. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]
|
|
|
|
 |
|
 E. Laaksonen, P. Martikainen, E. Lahelma, T. Lallukka, O. Rahkonen, J. Head, and M. Marmot Socioeconomic circumstances and common mental disorders among Finnish and British public sector employees: evidence from the Helsinki Health Study and the Whitehall II Study Int. J. Epidemiol., August 1, 2007; 36(4): 776 - 786. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]
|
|
|
|
|
|
P. Sainio, T. Martelin, S. Koskinen, and M. Heliovaara Educational differences in mobility: the contribution of physical workload, obesity, smoking and chronic conditions J Epidemiol Community Health, May 1, 2007; 61(5): 401 - 408. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]
|
|
|
|
|
|
I. Jacobs and M. Podobny Do all benefit from economic growth? Int. J. Epidemiol., April 1, 2007; 36(2): 470 - 471. [Full Text] [PDF]
|
|
|
|
|
|
G. Nagel, J. Linseisen, H. C Boshuizen, G. Pera, G. Del Giudice, G. P Westert, H B. Bueno-de-Mesquita, N. E Allen, T. J Key, M. E Numans, et al. Socioeconomic position and the risk of gastric and oesophageal cancer in the European Prospective Investigation into Cancer and Nutrition (EPIC-EURGAST) Int. J. Epidemiol., March 12, 2007; (2007) dyl275v2. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]
|
|
|
|
 |
|
 P. Dieppe The relationships of musculoskeletal disease to age, pain, poverty and behaviour Rheumatology, March 1, 2006; 45(3): 248 - 249. [Full Text] [PDF]
|
|
|
|
|
|
S. Ebrahim Socioeconomic position (again), causes and confounding Int. J. Epidemiol., April 1, 2005; 34(2): 237 - 238. [Full Text] [PDF]
|
|
|
|
|
|
M. Shaw Photography as a metaphor for (epidemiological) research Int. J. Epidemiol., April 1, 2005; 34(2): 239 - 241. [Full Text] [PDF]
|
|