Health inequality among Estonian women

In Eastern Europe, in post-Communist countries, transformations during the past 10 years have considerably affected the life of women. Our aims were to (a) examine health status and socioeconomic inequalities among Estonian women, and (b) study the relationships between women's social roles and health. A group of 659 women, aged 18-45, completed the Health Questionnaire for Adults (HQA) and the General Health Questionnaire (GHQ). Income had the largest effect on self-related health and psychoemotional health ratings. The second important indicator was education. Women's additional social roles (marital status, parental role) were not detrimental to their health in our study.