Murray C J, Gakidou E E, Frenk J
World Health Organization, Geneva, Switzerland.
Bull World Health Organ. 1999;77(7):537-43.
Both health inequalities and social group health differences are important aspects of measuring population health. Despite widespread recognition of their magnitude in many high- and low-income countries, there is considerable debate about the meaning and measurement of health inequalities, social group health differences and inequities. The lack of standard definitions, measurement strategies and indicators has and will continue to limit comparisons--between and within countries, and over time--of health inequalities, and perhaps more importantly comparative analyses of their determinants. Such comparative work, however, will be essential to find effective policies for governments to reduce health inequalities. This article addresses the question of whether we should be measuring health inequalities or social group health differences. To help clarify the strengths and weaknesses of these two approaches, we review some of the major arguments for and against each of them.
健康不平等和社会群体健康差异都是衡量人群健康的重要方面。尽管许多高收入和低收入国家都普遍认识到它们的严重程度，但对于健康不平等、社会群体健康差异和不公平现象的含义及衡量方法仍存在大量争议。缺乏标准定义、测量策略和指标已经并将继续限制不同国家之间、国家内部以及不同时间的健康不平等比较，或许更重要的是限制对其决定因素的比较分析。然而，此类比较工作对于政府找到减少健康不平等的有效政策至关重要。本文探讨我们是否应该衡量健康不平等或社会群体健康差异这一问题。为了帮助阐明这两种方法的优缺点，我们回顾了支持和反对它们的一些主要论点。
