Trends in inequalities in disability in Europe between 2002 and 2017

Abstract

BackgroundMonitoring socioeconomic inequalities in population health is important in order to reduce them. We aim to determine if educational inequalities in Global Activity Limitation Indicator (GALI) disability have changed between 2002 and 2017 in Europe (26 countries).MethodsWe used logistic regression to quantify the annual change in disability prevalence by education, as well as the annual change in prevalence difference and ratio, both for the pooled sample and each country, as reported in the European Union Statistics on Income and Living Conditions (EU-SILC) and the European Social Survey (ESS) for individuals aged 30–79 years.ResultsIn EU-SILC, disability prevalence tended to decrease among the high educated. As a result, both the prevalence difference and the prevalence ratio between the low and high educated increased over time. There were no discernible trends in the ESS. However, there was substantial heterogeneity between countries in the magnitude and direction of these changes, but without clear geographical patterns and without consistency between surveys.ConclusionsSocioeconomic inequalities in disability appear to have increased over time in Europe between 2002 and 2017 as per EU-SILC, and have persisted as measured by the ESS. Efforts to further harmonise disability instruments in international surveys are important, and so are studies to better understand international differences in disability trends and inequalities.

Changes of inequality in functional disability of older populations in China from 2008 to 2018: a decomposition analysis

“…Meanwhile, the social and health inequalities experienced by the disadvantaged accumulate over their life course [ 2 ]. Significant socioeconomic inequalities in both physical and mental health have been observed in the older populations in both developing and developed countries [ 3 – 5 ]. China is no exception.…”

“…A large body of literature consistently reported low SES in people with disability as measured by the Global Activity Limitation Indicator (GALI) and the Activities of Daily Living (ADL). For example, the populations with a higher prevalence of disability often experience lower school attendance, higher unemployment rate, and lower income [ 3 , 4 , 6 – 8 ]. Their poor health status is likely to be exacerbated by poor knowledge and low affordability of health services.…”

Socioeconomic status and psychological distress do not predict mortality risk in the island population of Vis, Croatia

“…This absent correlation disagrees with numerous previously published studies. 1,[9][10][11][12][13][14]24 However, some existing studies reported an association between absent mortality and anxiety and depression, 25 or psychological distress. 26 Although a link between psychological distress and cardiovascular mortality is well established, 12,[27][28][29] some studies suggested that psychological symptoms were only associated with cardiovascular events, but not with cardiovascular mortality.…”

“…The detrimental effect of declining social status on health is well known. 1,2 Despite numerous difficulties in obtaining exact estimates of socioeconomic status, social status is believed to be fairly constant in Mediterranean countries. 3 Several studies from Croatia suggest that isolated island communities may pertain higher levels of social homogeneity, reflected in both a generalized lack of health inequalities, 4,5 extending even on to mortality.…”

Inequalities persist in Europe—and COVID-19 does not help

“…Rubio Valverde et al 1 show us that inequalities in disabilities in Europe have not improved between 2002 and 2017. They included a wide age range (30-79 years) and 26 countries.…”