Publication type
Journal Article
Authors
Publication date
June 1, 2010
Abstract:
Drawing on theory and research on the fundamental causes of health, the life course, and the welfare state, we investigate social inequalities in dynamic self-rated health for working-aged Britons and Americans. We use data from the British Household Panel Survey and Panel Study of Income Dynamics (1990-2004) and a mixture latent Markov model to test a theoretical model of health as a discrete state that may remain stable or change over time. Our contributions are threefold. First, our finding of three distinctive types of health processes (stable good health, stable poor health, and a “mover” health trajectory) represents a more differentiated profile of long-term health than previously shown. Second, we characterize health trajectories in structural terms by suggesting who was more likely to experience what type of health trajectory. Third, our more differentiated picture of dynamic health leads to a more nuanced understanding of comparative health: Although the health advantage of Britons was confirmed, our results also indicate that they were more likely to experience health change. Moreover, the socioeconomic gradient in long-term health was steeper in the US, raising provocative questions about how state policies and practices may affect population health.
Published in
Social Science and Medicine
Volume and page numbers
Volume: 70 (2):251-260 , p.251 -260
DOI
http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.socscimed.2009.10.001
ISSN
2779536
Subjects
Notes
NCBI/PubMed alert
Previously 'In press, corrected proof' Oct. 2009
Albert Sloman Library Periodicals *restricted to Univ. Essex registered users*
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