Oshio Takashi, Kan Mari
Institute of Economic Research, Hitotsubashi University, 2-1 Naka, Kunitachi, Tokyo, 186-8603, Japan.
School of Economics, University of Hyogo, 8-2-1 Gakuen-Nishi-Machi, Nishiku, Kobe, Hyogo, 651-2197, Japan.
Int J Equity Health. 2014 Dec 19;13:128. doi: 10.1186/s12939-014-0128-9.
It is well known that lower income is associated with poorer health, but poverty has several dimensions other than income. In the current study, we investigated the associations between multidimensional poverty and health variables.
Using micro data obtained from a nationwide population survey in Japan (N = 24,905), we focused on four dimensions of poverty (income, education, social protection, and housing conditions) and three health variables (self-rated health (SRH), psychological distress, and current smoking). We examined how health variables were associated with multidimensional poverty measures, based on descriptive and multivariable logistic regression analyses.
Unions as composite measures of multiple poverty dimensions were more useful for identifying individuals in poor SRH or psychological distress than a single dimension such as income. In comparison, intersections of poverty dimensions reduced the coverage of individuals considered to be in poverty and tend to be difficult to justify without any explicit policy objective. Meanwhile, education as a unidimensional poverty indicator could be useful for predicting current smoking.
Results obtained from the current study confirmed the practical relevance of multidimensional poverty for health.
众所周知，低收入与较差的健康状况相关，但贫困除了收入之外还有多个维度。在本研究中，我们调查了多维贫困与健康变量之间的关联。
利用从日本全国人口调查中获得的微观数据（N = 24,905），我们聚焦于贫困的四个维度（收入、教育、社会保护和住房条件）以及三个健康变量（自评健康（SRH）、心理困扰和当前吸烟状况）。基于描述性和多变量逻辑回归分析，我们研究了健康变量与多维贫困指标之间的关联。
作为多个贫困维度综合指标的并集，在识别自评健康状况差或有心理困扰的个体方面，比单一维度（如收入）更有用。相比之下，贫困维度的交集减少了被视为处于贫困状态的个体范围，并且在没有任何明确政策目标的情况下往往难以自圆其说。同时，教育作为一维贫困指标，对于预测当前吸烟状况可能有用。
本研究结果证实了多维贫困对健康的实际相关性。
