Economic status

1
Economic status Health Inequalities in the Aged

• by
• Dr. K.L. Chou
• Collaborators
• Prof. Nelson Chow Prof. Iris Chi
• April 30, 2004

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Outline

• Aging Population
• Economic Status
• Income Inequalities
• Health Inequalities
• Policy Implications

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Aging Population

• Long life expectancy
• Low fertility rate
• 11 in 2001 to 24 in 2031
• 0.74 million in 2001 to 2.1 million in 2031

4
Economic Status

• Median of Household Income at constant price (at
  Feb. 2001) HK
• 1981 Total population 6,995
• 65 and above 4,197
• 1991 Total population 15,266
• 65 and above 10,023
• 2001 Total population 18,705
• 65 and above 9,605

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Income Inequality

• Income Inequality in general population ? in 50s
  and 60s but ? in 70s, 80s, 90s (Suen, 1995)
• Data
• Population Census Data
• Income include all sources
• Household heads

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Income Inequality
7
Health Inequalities

• Background
• Method
• Result
• Discussion

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Background

• Low SES gt Poor Health
• Western studies Inconsistent
• HI diminish in old age because selective survival
  or small variation in health at later life
• Societal factors
• Hong Kong Low education, lack of retirement
  protection, strong family support, high
  accessibility of pubic health care

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Objectives

• Direction in the link between SES and health ?
• Different SES indicators gt Different Health
  outcomes ?

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Method

• Data Thematic Household Survey 2002
• 2,180 older adults aged 60 and above
• 75 response rate

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Method

• 4 SES indicators
• Education (no schooling, some primary, primary
  and above)
• Income (3 levels)
• Occupation (managers professionals,
  white-collar, blue-collar, elementary)
• Wealth including saving, stock, bond,
  non-self-occupied property (2 levels)

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Method

• 9 Health indicators
• Self-rated health (0poor 1good)
• Functional health (0no functional impairment
  1any impairment in ADL or IADL)
• Presence of nine medical conditions
  hypertension, diabetes, heart disease, arthritis,
  eye disease, high cholesterol, gastric disease,
  tracheitis, and gout

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Statistics

• Logistic Model
• Model I Each of SES indicator on Each health
  indicator (adjusted age)
• Model II Each of SES indicator on Each health
  indicator (adjusted age and other 3 SES
  indicators)

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Result Older Men
15
Result Older Women
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Discussion

• Relation between SES and health
• One direction in older men vs mixed in older
  women
• Different SES indicators gt different health
  outcomes
• Largely Confirm in both gender
• Income is more important in older men
• Occupation is more important in older women

17
Lessons

• Economic status of the aged population improves
  in the past 2 decades
• Income inequality more in the aged but remain
  stable in the past 2 decades
• Link between SES and health gender difference

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Policy Implications

• How to reduce Income Inequality in the aged ?
• Universal vs Selective ?
• Money vs Health
• Lifestyle and strong social network