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Measuring Inequalities in Health: Innovative Approaches and Applications
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Measuring Inequalities in Health: Innovative Approaches and Applications

A special issue of International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health (ISSN 1660-4601).

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (31 October 2022) | Viewed by 15743

Special Issue Editors

Prof. George Luta

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Georgetown University Medical Center, Washington, D.C., United States
Interests: statistical methods for measures of health disparity; cancer prevention and control; arthritis epidemiology; empirical likelihood; nonnegative matrix factorization; causal inference
Dr. Salvatore Vaccarella

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
International Agency for Research on Cancer, Lyon, France
Interests: global cancer trends; cancer inequalities; social inequalities in cancer; cancer prevention and control; overdiagnosis in cancer; cancer heterogeneity

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

We are currently witnessing major inequalities in the distribution of health within populations. The importance of measures of health inequality cannot be understated when the goals are to understand the underlying reasons for the observed health inequalities and to design effective interventions to reduce them. In this Special Issue, papers on measures of health inequality, health disparity, health equity, and other related measures (e.g., measures of social determinants of health and of socioeconomic status)—both theoretical and applied—will be considered. For simplicity, in what follows we refer to all of these as measures of health inequality and related measures.

Topics may include:

  • Theoretical properties of measures of health inequality and related measures;
  • Innovative individual- and area-based measures of health inequality and related measures;
  • Comparisons between measures of health inequality and related measures;
  • Absolute and relative measures of health inequality and related measures;
  • Multi-level and life-course approaches to measure health inequality;
  • Choice and use of measures of health inequality and related measures;
  • Statistical methods for measures of health inequality and related measures;
  • Software implementations for measures of health inequality and related measures;
  • Visual/graphical representations of measures of health inequality and related measures;
  • Measurement and use of socioeconomic status for measures of health inequality and related measures;
  • Practical use of measures of health inequality and related measures on real data.

Prof. George Luta
Dr. Salvatore Vaccarella
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health is an international peer-reviewed open access monthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2500 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

  • Measures of health inequality
  • Measures of health disparity
  • Measures of health equity
  • Measures of social determinants of health
  • Measures of socioeconomic status
  • Multi-level approach
  • Life-course approach
  • Statistical methods
  • Software implementation
  • Visual/graphical representations

Published Papers (6 papers)

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Research

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11 pages, 1035 KiB  
Article
Inequalities in Violent Death across Income Levels among Young Males and Females in Countries of the Americas
by Oscar J. Mujica, Dihui Zhang, Yi Hu, Isabel C. Espinosa, Nelson Araneda, Anca Dragomir, George Luta and Antonio Sanhueza
Int. J. Environ. Res. Public Health 2023, 20(7), 5256; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/ijerph20075256 - 24 Mar 2023
Viewed by 1534
Abstract
Background: Violent deaths (i.e., those due to road traffic injury, homicide, and suicide) are among the most important causes of premature and preventable mortality in young people. This study aimed at exploring inequalities in violent death across income levels between males and females [...] Read more.
Background: Violent deaths (i.e., those due to road traffic injury, homicide, and suicide) are among the most important causes of premature and preventable mortality in young people. This study aimed at exploring inequalities in violent death across income levels between males and females aged 10 to 24 years from the Americas in 2015, the SDG baseline year. Methods: In a cross-sectional ecological study design, eleven standard summary measures of health inequality were calculated separately for males and females and for each cause of violent death, using age-adjusted mortality rates and average income per capita for 17 countries, which accounted for 87.9% of the target population. Results: Premature mortality due to road traffic injury and homicide showed a pro-poor inequality pattern, whereas premature mortality due to suicide showed a pro-rich inequality pattern. These inequalities were statistically significant (p < 0.001), particularly concentrated among young males, and dominated by homicide. The ample array of summary measures of health inequality tended to generate convergent results. Conclusions: Significant inequalities in violent death among young people seems to be in place across countries of the Americas, and they seem to be socially determined by both income and gender. These findings shed light on the epidemiology of violent death in young people and can inform priorities for regional public health action. However, further investigation is needed to confirm inequality patterns and to explore underlying mechanisms, age- and sex-specific vulnerabilities, and gender-based drivers of such inequalities. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Measuring Inequalities in Health: Innovative Approaches and Applications)
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25 pages, 66358 KiB  
Article
Integrating Socioeconomic Status and Spatial Factors to Improve the Accessibility of Community Care Resources Using Maximum-Equity Optimization of Supply Capacity Allocation
by Ming-Hseng Tseng and Hui-Ching Wu
Int. J. Environ. Res. Public Health 2021, 18(10), 5437; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/ijerph18105437 - 19 May 2021
Cited by 4 | Viewed by 2431
Abstract
Health promotion empowers people, communities, and societies to take charge of their own health and quality of life. To strengthen community-based support, increase resource accessibility, and achieve the ideal of aging, this study targets the question of maximum equity with minimum values, taking [...] Read more.
Health promotion empowers people, communities, and societies to take charge of their own health and quality of life. To strengthen community-based support, increase resource accessibility, and achieve the ideal of aging, this study targets the question of maximum equity with minimum values, taking distances and spatial and non-spatial factors into consideration. To compare disparities in the accessibility of community care resources and the optimization of allocation, methods for community care resource capacity were examined. This study also investigates units based on basic statistical area (BSA) to improve the limitation of larger reference locations (administrative districts) that cannot reflect the exact locations of people. The results show the capacity redistribution of each service point within the same total capacity, and the proposed method brings the population distribution of each demand to the best accessibility. Finally, the grading system of assessing accessibility scarcity allows the government to effectively categorize the prior improvement areas to achieve maximum equity under the same amount of care resources. There are 2046 (47.26%) and 396 (9.15%) BSAs that should be improved before and after optimization, respectively. Therefore, integrating socioeconomic status and spatial factors to assess accessibility of community-based care resources could provide comprehensive consideration for equal allocation. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Measuring Inequalities in Health: Innovative Approaches and Applications)
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Review

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19 pages, 2117 KiB  
Review
Classification of Deprivation Indices That Applied to Detect Health Inequality: A Scoping Review
by Anastasia Zelenina, Svetlana Shalnova, Sergey Maksimov and Oksana Drapkina
Int. J. Environ. Res. Public Health 2022, 19(16), 10063; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/ijerph191610063 - 15 Aug 2022
Cited by 4 | Viewed by 2070
Abstract
Introduction: Many studies around the world are undertaken to establish the association between deprivation and public health indicators. Both separate indicators (e.g., income, education, occupation, public security and social support) and complex models (indices) include several indicators. Deprivation indices are actively used in [...] Read more.
Introduction: Many studies around the world are undertaken to establish the association between deprivation and public health indicators. Both separate indicators (e.g., income, education, occupation, public security and social support) and complex models (indices) include several indicators. Deprivation indices are actively used in public health since the mid 1980s. There is currently no clear classification of indices. Methods: In the current review, data related to deprivation indices are combined and analyzed in order to create a taxonomy of indices based on the results obtained. The search was carried out using two bibliographic databases. After conducting a full-text review of the articles and searching and adding relevant articles from the bibliography, and articles that were already known to the authors, sixty studies describing the use of sixty deprivation indices in seventeen countries were included in the narrative synthesis, resulting in development of a taxonomy of indices. When creating the taxonomy, an integrative approach was used that allows integrating new classes and sub-classes in the event that new information appears. Results: In the review, 68% (41/60) of indices were classified as socio-economic, 7% (4/60) of indices as material deprivation, 5% (3/60) of indices as environmental deprivation and 20% (12/60) as multidimensional indices. Conclusions: The data stimulates the use of a competent approach, and will help researchers and public health specialist in resolving conflicts or inconsistencies that arise during the construction and use of indices. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Measuring Inequalities in Health: Innovative Approaches and Applications)
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25 pages, 1971 KiB  
Review
Summary Measures of Health Inequality: A Review of Existing Measures and Their Application
by Anne Schlotheuber and Ahmad Reza Hosseinpoor
Int. J. Environ. Res. Public Health 2022, 19(6), 3697; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/ijerph19063697 - 20 Mar 2022
Cited by 21 | Viewed by 6473 | Correction
Abstract
Measuring and monitoring health inequalities is key to achieving health equity. While disaggregated data are commonly used to assess differences in health between different population subgroups, summary measures of health inequality also play a vital role in monitoring health inequalities. Building on disaggregated [...] Read more.
Measuring and monitoring health inequalities is key to achieving health equity. While disaggregated data are commonly used to assess differences in health between different population subgroups, summary measures of health inequality also play a vital role in monitoring health inequalities. Building on disaggregated data, they quantify the level of inequality in a single number and are useful to compare inequality over time and across different health indicators, programmes and settings. We provide a comprehensive overview of existing summary measures of health inequality, including their definition, calculation, interpretation and application. The use of these measures is illustrated based on an example from the WHO’s Health Equity Monitor database using the WHO’s Health Equity Assessment Toolkit (HEAT) software. We discuss the strengths and limitations of different measures and provide guidance for selecting suitable summary measures for analysing health inequalities and communicating results. Summary measures of health inequality should form an integral part of health inequality monitoring to inform equity-oriented policies and programmes. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Measuring Inequalities in Health: Innovative Approaches and Applications)
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Other

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7 pages, 293 KiB  
Protocol
Characteristics of Composite Deprivation Indices Used in Public Health: A Scoping Review Protocol
by Anastasia Zelenina, Svetlana Shalnova, Sergey Maksimov and Oksana Drapkina
Int. J. Environ. Res. Public Health 2022, 19(17), 10565; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/ijerph191710565 - 24 Aug 2022
Cited by 3 | Viewed by 1257
Abstract
Introduction: A deprivation index has become a more popular tool to rank levels of deprivation within different geographic areas. It is extensively used for monitoring health inequalities, evaluating health care services, developing and modifying health policies and programs, and allocating health resources equitably. [...] Read more.
Introduction: A deprivation index has become a more popular tool to rank levels of deprivation within different geographic areas. It is extensively used for monitoring health inequalities, evaluating health care services, developing and modifying health policies and programs, and allocating health resources equitably. Our objectives are (1) to explore the relevant literature to describe features of composite deprivation measures; (2) create a list and classification of original deprivation indices. We will develop the classification of indices to systematize knowledge and improve the functional utility of the information. Methods: Any original deprivation index mentioned in peer-reviewed or grey literature documents will be eligible for inclusion if it assesses deprivation at a population level and used in relation to health. The study area will be limited to the geographic areas of North America, Europe, Australia, and New Zealand. Tables and a narrative summary will be used to describe features of deprivation indices. Diagrammatic form will be used to create the classification of deprivation indices. Discussion: Practically, the results of this study could facilitate finding a common language among researchers and specialists who create and use deprivation indices, thus helping the development and implementation of appropriate deprivation indices for different countries. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Measuring Inequalities in Health: Innovative Approaches and Applications)
2 pages, 244 KiB  
Correction
Correction: Schlotheuber, A.; Hosseinpoor, A.R. Summary Measures of Health Inequality: A Review of Existing Measures and Their Application. Int. J. Environ. Res. Public Health 2022, 19, 3697
by Anne Schlotheuber and Ahmad Reza Hosseinpoor
Int. J. Environ. Res. Public Health 2022, 19(12), 6969; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/ijerph19126969 - 07 Jun 2022
Cited by 1 | Viewed by 1181
Abstract
Several errors were introduced after proofreading, and the authors hence wish to make the following corrections to this paper [...] Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Measuring Inequalities in Health: Innovative Approaches and Applications)
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