Research news: Socioeconomic status is associated with health inequalities also in the last years of life
Socioeconomic status is associated with health and functioning also among the oldest old adults. The results came from the Vitality 90+ study, the School of Health Sciences and Gerontology Research center, University of Tampere.
The study was based on the mailed survey from the 2010. Almost 1 300 citizens of Tampere aged 90-107 participated. Social inequalities in functional ability, self-rated health and comorbidity were studied. The results showed that manual workers had poorer functional ability and health than upper nonmanuals and similarly the low-educated suffered more from health issues than the high-educated.
Social inequality in health is well documented in younger adults and the younger old adults. Findings of the present study show that social inequality in health and functioning exists also in very old age.
Further information:
Doctoral student Linda Enroth, 040-1901647, linda.enroth@uta.fi
School of Health Sciences and Gerontology Research Center,
University of Tampere
Enroth L, Raitanen J, Hervonen A, Jylhä M. Do Socioeconomic Health Differences Persist in Nonagenarians? The Journals of Gerontology Series B: Psychological Sciences and Social Sciences 2013; 68 (5), 837-847.