Combining education and income into a socioeconomic position score for use in studies of health inequalities
Background: In studies of social inequalities in health, there is no consensus on the best measure of socioeconomic position (SEP). Moreover, subjective indicators are increasingly used to measure SEP. The aim of this paper was to develop a composite score for SEP based on weighted combinations of e...
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ftunivtroemsoe:oai:munin.uit.no:10037/25264 2023-12-24T10:23:36+01:00 Combining education and income into a socioeconomic position score for use in studies of health inequalities Lindberg, Marie Hella Chen, Gang Olsen, Jan Abel Abelsen, Birgit 2022-05-13 https://hdl.handle.net/10037/25264 https://doi.org/10.1186/s12889-022-13366-8 eng eng BMC Lindberg, M.H. (2023). Measuring socioeconomic position in studies of health inequalities. (Doctoral thesis). https://hdl.handle.net/10037/31868 . BMC Public Health Lindberg MH, Chen G, Olsen JA, Abelsen B. Combining education and income into a socioeconomic position score for use in studies of health inequalities. BMC Public Health. 2022;22 FRIDAID 2026717 https://doi.org/10.1186/s12889-022-13366-8 1471-2458 https://hdl.handle.net/10037/25264 openAccess Copyright 2022 The Author(s) Journal article Tidsskriftartikkel Peer reviewed publishedVersion 2022 ftunivtroemsoe https://doi.org/10.1186/s12889-022-13366-8 2023-11-30T00:08:24Z Background: In studies of social inequalities in health, there is no consensus on the best measure of socioeconomic position (SEP). Moreover, subjective indicators are increasingly used to measure SEP. The aim of this paper was to develop a composite score for SEP based on weighted combinations of education and income in estimating subjective SEP, and examine how this score performs in predicting inequalities in health-related quality of life (HRQoL). Methods: We used data from a comprehensive health survey from Northern Norway, conducted in 2015/16 (N=21,083). A composite SEP score was developed using adjacent-category logistic regression of subjective SEP as a function of four education and four household income levels. Weights were derived based on these indicators’ coeffcients in explaining variations in respondents’ subjective SEP. The composite SEP score was further applied to predict inequalities in HRQoL, measured by the EQ-5D and a visual analogue scale. Results: Education seemed to infuence SEP the most, while income added weight primarily for the highest income category. The weights demonstrated clear non-linearities, with large jumps from the middle to the higher SEP score levels. Analyses of the composite SEP score indicated a clear social gradient in both HRQoL measures. Conclusions: We provide new insights into the relative contribution of education and income as sources of SEP, both separately and in combination. Combining education and income into a composite SEP score produces more comprehensive estimates of the social gradient in health. A similar approach can be applied in any cohort study that includes education and income data. Article in Journal/Newspaper Northern Norway University of Tromsø: Munin Open Research Archive Norway BMC Public Health 22 1 |
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University of Tromsø: Munin Open Research Archive |
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ftunivtroemsoe |
language |
English |
description |
Background: In studies of social inequalities in health, there is no consensus on the best measure of socioeconomic position (SEP). Moreover, subjective indicators are increasingly used to measure SEP. The aim of this paper was to develop a composite score for SEP based on weighted combinations of education and income in estimating subjective SEP, and examine how this score performs in predicting inequalities in health-related quality of life (HRQoL). Methods: We used data from a comprehensive health survey from Northern Norway, conducted in 2015/16 (N=21,083). A composite SEP score was developed using adjacent-category logistic regression of subjective SEP as a function of four education and four household income levels. Weights were derived based on these indicators’ coeffcients in explaining variations in respondents’ subjective SEP. The composite SEP score was further applied to predict inequalities in HRQoL, measured by the EQ-5D and a visual analogue scale. Results: Education seemed to infuence SEP the most, while income added weight primarily for the highest income category. The weights demonstrated clear non-linearities, with large jumps from the middle to the higher SEP score levels. Analyses of the composite SEP score indicated a clear social gradient in both HRQoL measures. Conclusions: We provide new insights into the relative contribution of education and income as sources of SEP, both separately and in combination. Combining education and income into a composite SEP score produces more comprehensive estimates of the social gradient in health. A similar approach can be applied in any cohort study that includes education and income data. |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Lindberg, Marie Hella Chen, Gang Olsen, Jan Abel Abelsen, Birgit |
spellingShingle |
Lindberg, Marie Hella Chen, Gang Olsen, Jan Abel Abelsen, Birgit Combining education and income into a socioeconomic position score for use in studies of health inequalities |
author_facet |
Lindberg, Marie Hella Chen, Gang Olsen, Jan Abel Abelsen, Birgit |
author_sort |
Lindberg, Marie Hella |
title |
Combining education and income into a socioeconomic position score for use in studies of health inequalities |
title_short |
Combining education and income into a socioeconomic position score for use in studies of health inequalities |
title_full |
Combining education and income into a socioeconomic position score for use in studies of health inequalities |
title_fullStr |
Combining education and income into a socioeconomic position score for use in studies of health inequalities |
title_full_unstemmed |
Combining education and income into a socioeconomic position score for use in studies of health inequalities |
title_sort |
combining education and income into a socioeconomic position score for use in studies of health inequalities |
publisher |
BMC |
publishDate |
2022 |
url |
https://hdl.handle.net/10037/25264 https://doi.org/10.1186/s12889-022-13366-8 |
geographic |
Norway |
geographic_facet |
Norway |
genre |
Northern Norway |
genre_facet |
Northern Norway |
op_relation |
Lindberg, M.H. (2023). Measuring socioeconomic position in studies of health inequalities. (Doctoral thesis). https://hdl.handle.net/10037/31868 . BMC Public Health Lindberg MH, Chen G, Olsen JA, Abelsen B. Combining education and income into a socioeconomic position score for use in studies of health inequalities. BMC Public Health. 2022;22 FRIDAID 2026717 https://doi.org/10.1186/s12889-022-13366-8 1471-2458 https://hdl.handle.net/10037/25264 |
op_rights |
openAccess Copyright 2022 The Author(s) |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.1186/s12889-022-13366-8 |
container_title |
BMC Public Health |
container_volume |
22 |
container_issue |
1 |
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1786197696675053568 |