Dorling Danny, Mitchell Richard, Pearce Jamie
Department of Geography, University of Sheffield, Sheffield S10 2TN.
BMJ. 2007 Oct 27;335(7625):873. doi: 10.1136/bmj.39349.507315.DE. Epub 2007 Oct 22.
To explore whether the apparent impact of income inequality on health, which has been shown for wealthier nations, is replicated worldwide, and whether the impact varies by age.
Observational study.
126 countries of the world for which complete data on income inequality and mortality by age and sex were available around the year 2002 (including 94.4% of world human population).
Data on mortality were from the World Health Organization and income data were taken from the annual reports of the United Nations Development Programme.
Mortality in 5-year age bands for each sex by income inequality and income level.
At ages 15-29 and 25-39 variations in income inequality seem more closely correlated with mortality worldwide than do variations in material wealth. This relation is especially strong among the poorest countries in Africa. Mortality is higher for a given level of overall income in more unequal nations.
Income inequality seems to have an influence worldwide, especially for younger adults. Social inequality seems to have a universal negative impact on health.
探讨在较富裕国家已显示出的收入不平等对健康的明显影响在全球范围内是否具有普遍性，以及这种影响是否因年龄而异。
观察性研究。
2002年前后可获取按年龄和性别划分的收入不平等及死亡率完整数据的世界126个国家（涵盖世界人口的94.4%）。
死亡率数据来自世界卫生组织，收入数据取自联合国开发计划署的年度报告。
按收入不平等和收入水平划分的各性别5岁年龄组的死亡率。
在15 - 29岁和25 - 39岁年龄段，全球范围内收入不平等的变化似乎比物质财富的变化与死亡率的相关性更强。这种关系在非洲最贫穷的国家尤为明显。在收入更不平等的国家，对于给定的总体收入水平，死亡率更高。
收入不平等似乎在全球范围内都有影响，尤其是对年轻人。社会不平等似乎对健康具有普遍的负面影响。
