Centre for Health Equity Studies-CHESS, Stockholm University/Karolinska Institutet, Stockholm, Sweden.
Scand J Public Health. 2013 May;41(3):260-8. doi: 10.1177/1403494812472264. Epub 2013 Jan 24.
The aim of the present study is to explore whether the association between income and self-rated health in Sweden is similar to that in Germany. Both countries represent relatively similar economic contexts, but also different welfare traditions and historic experiences. Thus, the study compares Sweden with East Germany and West Germany in order to incorporate the aftereffects of reunification in East Germany.
The association between adjusted disposable household income and self-rated health is investigated by exploring cross-sectional survey data for the year 2000. In a sequence of logistic regression models, the risk for poor self-rated health across income quintiles is analysed, controlling for educational status and occupational position. Data sources are the Swedish Level-of-Living Survey and the German Socio-Economic Panel.
A relationship between income and health was observed for Sweden, East Germany and West Germany, before as well as after controlling for education and occupational position. The associations were somewhat stronger for women than for men. Similar magnitudes of income-related poor health were detected across the investigated subsamples, but patterns were distinct in the three regions. The highest estimates were not always found in groups with the lowest income position.
Given the variation in the results, we found neither advantages nor disadvantages that can be linked to the effectiveness of the welfare contexts under study. We could also not identify an income threshold for poor health across the investigated countries and settings. Nevertheless, the association between income and health persists, although the patterns vary across regional contexts.
本研究旨在探讨瑞典和德国之间的收入与自评健康之间的关联是否相似。这两个国家在经济背景上相对相似，但在福利传统和历史经验上有所不同。因此，该研究将瑞典与东德和西德进行了比较，以纳入东德统一的后续影响。
通过探索 2000 年的横断面调查数据，研究了调整后的可支配家庭收入与自评健康之间的关联。在一系列逻辑回归模型中，分析了在收入五分位数中自评健康不良的风险，控制了教育程度和职业地位。数据来源是瑞典生活水平调查和德国社会经济面板。
瑞典、东德和西德都观察到了收入与健康之间的关系，无论是在控制教育和职业地位之前还是之后。女性的关联比男性更强。在所调查的亚组中，发现了相似程度的与收入相关的不良健康状况，但在这三个地区的模式不同。最高的估计值并不总是出现在收入最低的群体中。
鉴于结果存在差异，我们既没有发现与研究中的福利环境相关的优势，也没有发现劣势。我们也没有在调查的国家和背景中确定一个与健康不良相关的收入阈值。然而，收入与健康之间的关联仍然存在，尽管模式因地区背景而异。
