College of Social Work, The Ohio State University, Columbus, Ohio 43210, USA.
Soc Work Health Care. 2011;50(2):124-42. doi: 10.1080/00981389.2010.527787.
Despite increased attention to health disparities in the United States, few studies have examined the impact of socioeconomic inequalities on self-rated health over time. Using data from the Health and Retirement Study, this article investigates socioeconomic inequalities in self-rated health among middle-aged and older adults. The findings indicated that higher level of income, assets, and education, and having private health insurance predicted better self-rated health. In particular, increases in income or assets predicted slower decline in self-rated health. Interestingly, economic status had greater impact on females' decline in self-rated health. Blacks were less likely to suffer rapid decline in self-rated health than were whites. The findings led to the conclusion that health disparities should be understood as the interplay of socioeconomic status, gender, and race/ethnicity.
尽管美国越来越关注健康差距问题，但很少有研究探讨社会经济不平等对自评健康的长期影响。本文利用健康与退休研究的数据，调查了中老年人自评健康中的社会经济不平等问题。研究结果表明，较高的收入、资产和教育水平以及拥有私人医疗保险与更好的自评健康相关。具体来说，收入或资产的增加预示着自评健康下降速度较慢。有趣的是，经济状况对女性自评健康下降的影响更大。与白人相比，黑人自评健康下降的速度较慢。研究结果得出结论，健康差距应被理解为社会经济地位、性别和种族/民族的相互作用。
