Inequalities in health in Latin America and the Caribbean: descriptive and exploratory results for self-reported health problems and health care in twelve countries

Abstract

Inequalities in self-reported health problems among the different economic strata were small, and such problems were usually more common among women than men. The presence of small inequalities may be due to cultural and social differences in the perception of health. However, in most countries included in the study, large inequalities were found in the use of health care for the self-reported health problems. It is important to develop regional projects aimed at improving the questions on self reported health in household interview surveys so that the determinants of the inequalities in health can be studied in depth. The authors conclude that due to the different patterns of economic gradients among different age groups and among males and females, the practice of standardization used in constructing concentration curves and in computing concentration indices should be avoided. At the end is a set of recommendations on how to improve these sources of data. Despite their shortcomings, household interview surveys are very useful in understanding the dimensions of health inequalities in these countries.

Autopercepción del estado de salud: una aproximación al los ancianos en México

“…No obstante, este grupo de edad es cada vez más importante, ya que del total de la población, 7.2% cuenta con 60 años o más y 4.8% con 65 y más. La población de la tercera edad pasará de 42.5 millones en el año 2000 a 96.9 millones en 2025, 9 lo que significa una duplicación en menos de 25 años.…”

“…2,3,10,20 Analizar estos factores asociados con la expresión de distintos niveles de salud, permiten ampliar las perspectivas para la identificación de necesidades en salud y la evaluación de los programas e intervenciones dirigidas a este grupo poblacional. 9,13,18 Por tal motivo, el presente trabajo tuvo como objetivo evaluar el estado de salud de los ancianos a través de la autopercepción de su estado de salud, así como analizar los factores sociales, de salud y de organización asociados.…”

A study of the influential factors for health inequality

“…Other research indicates that although the rate of mortality and morbidity among people with low SES was higher in all Western European countries, the inequalities were greater in Sweden and Norway, whereas the differences in the mortality rate among people with different SES in France were the highest among all the Western European countries (Mackenbach et al 1997). No significant differences in the level of health inequalities were detected among people of different social classes, while differences in the level of inequalities by gender prevailed in Latin America and Caribbean countries (Dachs et al 2002). In Asia, differences in the effects of SES on health were found within Thailand and Philippines (Zimmer et al 2004).…”

Availability and accessibility of diabetes clinics on Trinidad: An analysis using proximity tools in a GIS environment

“…Research concerning health in the Caribbean is somewhat limited as it is often linked with Latin America [3][4][5]. A portion of the work that has been produced on NCDs in the Caribbean has called for increased awareness and prioritization of combatting the epidemic rise of NCDs in the region [6,7] and strategies to be incorporated into public policy [8].…”