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Related Experiment Videos

Measuring total health inequality: adding individual variation to group-level differences.

Emmanuela Gakidou1, Gary King

  • 1Health Economist, Global Programme on Evidence for Health Policy, World Health Organization (20 Avenue Appia, 1211 Geneva, Switzerland. gakidoue@who.int

International Journal for Equity in Health
|October 16, 2002
PubMed
Summary

This study introduces a new measure for total health inequality, revealing significant variations in child survival risk across countries. Routine reporting of this measure is crucial for understanding and addressing health disparities.

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Area of Science:

  • Public Health
  • Biostatistics
  • Health Economics

Background:

  • Existing research highlights variations in average health status across demographic groups.
  • A significant gap exists in understanding the distribution of ill-health risk among individuals within and across societal groups.
  • Measuring health inequality has been challenging due to the difficulty in observing and estimating mortality risk.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To develop a comprehensive measure of total health inequality encompassing all individuals in a society.
  • To analyze the distribution of child survival risk in low- and middle-income countries.
  • To provide a novel approach for comparing health inequality across diverse populations.

Main Methods:

  • Adaptation of a beta-binomial regression model to quantify total health inequality.

Related Experiment Videos

  • Application of the developed measure to child survival data for children under two years old.
  • Utilizing data from 50 low- and middle-income countries.

    • Main Results:

    • Significant differences in total health inequality were observed among countries with similar average child mortality rates.
    • Liberia and Mozambique exhibit the highest levels of child survival inequality.
    • Colombia, the Philippines, and Kazakhstan demonstrate the lowest levels of child survival inequality.

    Conclusions:

    • Total health inequality estimates offer critical policy-relevant information beyond average health metrics.
    • Routine reporting of total health inequality alongside average health is recommended for comprehensive population health assessment.
    • This methodology facilitates cross-country comparisons and future research into the determinants of health inequality.