Turrell G, Mathers C D
School of Public Health, Queensland University of Technology.
Med J Aust. 2000 May 1;172(9):434-8. doi: 10.5694/j.1326-5377.2000.tb124041.x.
Consistent with international evidence, the findings of Australian research show that socioeconomically disadvantaged groups experience significantly higher mortality and morbidity rates. Despite marked improvements in the health of all segments of the Australian population in recent decades, during this same period there has also been an increase in socioeconomically related mortality inequalities for some conditions. Socioeconomically disadvantaged groups are more likely to engage in health-damaging behaviours, experience poorer psychosocial health, make less use of the healthcare system for preventive purposes, and have a more adverse risk factor profile. These are the main contributing factors to the poorer physiological health of low socioeconomic groups. At present, our knowledge of how socioeconomic status and health are related is limited. A necessary step in improving our understanding of this issue is to draw together all the empirical evidence and use it as the basis for developing a theory of socioeconomic health inequalities. We present a conceptual framework to facilitate this process.
与国际证据一致，澳大利亚的研究结果表明，社会经济地位不利群体的死亡率和发病率显著更高。尽管近几十年来澳大利亚各阶层人口的健康状况有了显著改善，但在同一时期，某些疾病的社会经济相关死亡率不平等现象也有所增加。社会经济地位不利群体更有可能从事损害健康的行为，心理社会健康状况较差，较少将医疗保健系统用于预防目的，并且具有更不利的风险因素特征。这些是导致社会经济地位较低群体生理健康较差的主要因素。目前，我们对社会经济地位与健康之间如何关联的了解有限。增进我们对这一问题理解的一个必要步骤是汇集所有实证证据，并将其作为发展社会经济健康不平等理论的基础。我们提出一个概念框架以推动这一进程。
