Health inequalities by socioeconomic status among men in the Nord-Trøndelag Health Study, Norway

Abstract

Aims: This study described, inequalities and trends in health according to socioeconomic status in the Nord-Trondelag Health Stud ( HUNT I and II) and contribute to the ongoing discussion Oil the Magnitude of inequalities in health in the Nordic elf re states. To produce data comparable to recent European Studies. Occupational data in the HUNT Study were reclassified according to the international Erikson Goldthorpe Portocarero (EGP) social class scheme. Methods: To cross-sectional sectional health surveys were undertaken with a 10-year interval. HUNT I (1984-86) and HUNT II (1995-97). This was a primary healthcare, total-county population study, participants for this analysis being men aged 25-69 years. Results: A consistent pattern as found of increasing health problems with decreasing socioeconomic status for four health variables: self-perceived health, temporary disability, any long-standing health problem. and chronic conditions. The prevalence ratio between the highest and lowest status groups for "perceived health less than good" was 2.0 in the first survey and 2.1 in the second 10 years later. The magnitude of differences for the other health outcomes was at this level or smaller, with no significant overall time trend from the mid-1980s to the mid-1990s. Conclusions: The magnitude of socioeconomic gradients in health in this studs seemed some somewhat smaller than results from national Studies. and on the average compared to Studies from other European countries: there was no detectable time trend in health differentials. International comparative Studies have suggested considerably larger inequalities in health according to social class in Norway a using national data.