The role of individual characteristics and municipalities in social inequalities in perceived health (Italy, 2010–2012): a multilevel study (original) (raw)
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Research in Social Stratification and Mobility, 2018
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BMC Public Health
Background: Self-rated health is widely considered a good indicator of morbidity and mortality but its validity for health equity analysis and public health policies in Italy is often disregarded by policy-makers. This study had three objectives. O1: To explore response distribution across dimensions of age, chronic health conditions, functional limitations and SRH in Italy. O2: To explore associations between SRH and healthcare demand in Italy. O3: To explore the association between SRH and household income. Methods: Cross-sectional data were obtained from the 2015 Health Interview Survey (HIS) conducted in Italy. Italian respondents (n = 20,814) were included in logistic regression analyses. O1: associations of chronic health conditions (CHC), functional limitations (FL), and age with self-rated health (SRH) were tested. O2: associations of CHC, FL, and SRH with hospitalisation (H), medical specialist consultations (MSC), and medicine use (MU) were tested. O3: associations of SRH and CHC with household income (PEI) were tested. Results: O1: CHC, FL, and age had an independent summative effect on respondents' SRH. O2: SRH predicted H and MSC more than CHC; age and MU were more strongly correlated than SRH and MU. O3: SRH and PEI were significantly correlated, while we found no correlation between CHC and PEI. Conclusions: Drawing from our results and the relevant literature, we suggest that policy-makers in Italy could use SRH measures to: 1) predict healthcare demand for effective allocation of resources; 2) assess subjective effectiveness of treatments; and 3) understand geosocial pockets of health inequity that require special attention.
… of epidemiology and …, 2004
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BMC public health, 2014
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