Chronic disease is a major health burden in the United States, affecting about half of adults, and leading to poor health, disability, and death. However, the burden of chronic disease is not shared equally among Americans, with some groups (created by determinants such as race/ethnicity and socioeconomic resources) experiencing higher rates of morbidity and mortality. When measures of health and socioeconomic resources are examined together, a stepwise gradient pattern emerges. This social gradient has been established for individual measures, such as household income and social class, and several measures of morbidity and mortality. However, nationally, little research has been conducted using area-level measures, such as county economics, to examine its relationship with chronic disease. Three studies were completed using data from the Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System (BRFSS). County economic status was determined using unemployment, per capita market income, and poverty. The first study examined the relationship between county economic status and chronic disease and risk factors, both nationally and by metropolitan classification, using data from BRFSS 2013. Further, the social gradient was explored. The second study also used data from BRFSS 2013 to examine county economic status and prevalence of hypertension, arthritis, and poor health, after controlling for known risk factors. This study also examined results by US region. Finally, the third study assessed changes in disparities between persistently poor and persistently affluent counties for heart disease, hypertension, arthritis, and diabetes using data from BRFSS 2001-2010.

Chronic disease is a major health burden in the United States, affecting about half of adults, and leading to poor health, disability, and death. However, the burden of chronic disease is not shared equally among Americans, with some groups (created by determinants such as race/ethnicity and socioeconomic resources) experiencing higher rates of morbidity and mortality. When measures of health and socioeconomic resources are examined together, a stepwise gradient pattern emerges. This social gradient has been established for individual measures, such as household income and social class, and several measures of morbidity and mortality. However, nationally, little research has been conducted using area-level measures, such as county economics, to examine its relationship with chronic disease. Three studies were completed using data from the Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System (BRFSS). County economic status was determined using unemployment, per capita market income, and poverty. The first study examined the relationship between county economic status and chronic disease and risk factors, both nationally and by metropolitan classification, using data from BRFSS 2013. Further, the social gradient was explored. The second study also used data from BRFSS 2013 to examine county economic status and prevalence of hypertension, arthritis, and poor health, after controlling for known risk factors. This study also examined results by US region. Finally, the third study assessed changes in disparities between persistently poor and persistently affluent counties for heart disease, hypertension, arthritis, and diabetes using data from BRFSS 2001-2010.

The paper studies class inequalities in health over the ageing process in a comparative perspective. It investigates if health inequalities among the elderly vary between European welfare state regimes, and if this variation is age-dependent. Previous comparative research on health inequalities have largely failed to take age and ageing into account, and have not investigated whether cross-country variation in health inequalities might differ for different age categories. Since the elderly belong to the demographic category most dependent on welfare policies, an ageing perspective is warranted. The study combines fives data rounds (2002 to 2010) from the European Social Survey. Multilevel techniques are used, and the analysis is stratified by age, comparing the 50-64 year olds with those aged 65-80 years. Health is measured by self-assessed general health and disability status. Two results stand out. First, class differences in health are strongly reduced or vanish completely for the 65-80 year olds in the Social democratic welfare states, while they remain stable or are in some cases even intensified in almost all other welfare states. Second, the cross-country variation in health inequalities is much larger for the oldest (aged 65-80 years) than is the case for the 50-64 year olds. It is concluded that welfare policies seem to influence the magnitude of health inequalities, and that the importance of welfare state context is greater for the elderly, who are more fragile and more reliant on welfare policies such as public pensions and elderly care.

The life expectancy (LE) gap experienced by Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples in one of Australians most enduring health divides. Whilst there are many likely reasons, cardiovascular diseases (CVD) stand as the primary contributor. In particular, it is the almost ten-fold higher mortality from CVD at young ages that distinguishes this epidemic. The reasons for this disparity remain incompletely understood. Current research has focused on the likely contribution of traditional risk factor burdens in Aboriginal people, who demonstrate higher levels of smoking, obesity, hypertension and dyslipidaemia. Less attention has focused on the potential contribution of disadvantage and its interplay with psychosocial factors. Research on the psychosocial determinants of health, particularly in relation to CVD, has a long pedigree. Social context, particularly inequality between individuals, has assumed its rightful place at the forefront of our understandings of population levels of disease. Among them, socioeconomic position [SEP] and depression are the most robust, and most widely researched. They have not been adequately explored in the context of Aboriginal Australians, nor has the manner in which culture shapes, sustains or transforms disadvantage and psychosocial stress been outlined. The objective of the Men Hearts and Minds (MHM) Study was to identify the possible ways in which social disadvantage may lead to CVD in Aboriginal men in Central Australia and consider the role of psychosocial factors in modifying or mediating this relationship. This required a detailed and multi-disciplinary plan of research, covering the epidemiology of mental illness and chronic diseases, biomedical science, ethnographic field work and qualitative methodologies. Stage I required the development of measurement tools for exploring depression, stress, resilience, mastery and socioeconomic indicators that were valid and robust for use with Aboriginal men within Central Australia. This involved multi-stage qualitative techniques, engaging Aboriginal men, traditional healers (Ngangkari Tjuta) and mental health experts, to define the expressions and construction of mental illness in Aboriginal men. Depression existed, was recognizable, common, and had profound impacts on the social, emotional and physical well-being of Aboriginal men. ‘Worry’ was the most recognisable element, and the principle contributor to depression in Aboriginal men. Much of this was focused on the increasingly heavy and cumulative social and cultural burdens experienced throughout Aboriginal men’s lives, and manifest as a sense of inner turmoil and questioning of self, and of feelings of disconnectedness from all the things of critical importance within their lives. Kurunpa [spirit] was seen as the foundation of vitality and was critical to the physical, emotional and spiritual well-being of Aboriginal people. These findings were then used to interrogate existing psychological testing tools and develop novel measures to explore the interplay of SEP, stress and depression. These tools were then used in a community dwelling sample of Aboriginal men in Central Australia to explore the interaction of SEP, stress and depression and their potential contribution to CVD risk. In total 186 Aboriginal men across urban and remote community settings were assessed. Almost 40% of the sample had elevated depressive symptoms. Depression was highly correlated with standard measures of distress and inversely with mastery. Newly created measures, assessing Chronic Stress, the ‘Sense of Injury’ and deprivation, were highly correlated, reliable and fulfilled many validity criteria. There was a high level of cardiovascular risk, which was related to a number of psychosocial factors, particularly depression. Major depression was over 9 times as common in individuals with prevalent CVD. Cardiovascular risk was patterned across social strata, but not evident with the use of routine measures of SEP. Psychosocial factors modified the observed social gradient. In those with high chronic stress, the social gradient in CVD risk gradient was amplified. This pattern was mirrored in those who had been removed or had family forcible removed. Depression was correlated with a number of atherogenic pathways. Smokers were more likely to be depressed, and depression was strongly related to obesity. Individual with high depression scores were more than 20 times more likely to have a Body Mass Index >30. The interplay between the Autonomic Nervous System (ANS) (estimated with measures of Heart Rate Variability) and the Hypothalamic Pituitary Adrenal (HPA) axis (as measured according to obesity) highlights the interconnections across atherogenic pathways and may frame the cardiometabolic risk and psychosocial pathways to cardiovascular disease in this sample. The phenomenology of cumulative stress, distress and depression within the narratives of Aboriginal men constructed illness as a consequence of the ongoing fight to maintain balance - physically, emotionally and spiritually. From both a social and biological perspective, the construction of depression and heart disease as a consequence of cumulative chronic stress among Aboriginal men was supported in the findings of this work.

Previous research has shown a social gradient in health that suggests that better health is found for people in more advantaged positions in society. This research has mainly been focused on the relationship between social position in childhood and health or current position and health. However, little is known about the impact of positions held in between these two time-points. In this paper a potentially lasting health effect of occupational class positions is explored. The study starts with a description of the work-life biographies for people in different current class positions. Then goes on to investigate if the effect of current class is modified when including previous positions during adulthood, as well as how much extra information is gained by utilizing information on individual work histories. An association between accumulated experience of manual working class and self-rated health is found. Also, when controlling for accumulated class experience, the social gradient for current class is no longer significant. Furthermore, even for non-manual employees the odds of reporting less than good self-rated health is increasing with each added year of previous manual experience. This suggests that the social gradient in health is more complex than just a matter of current social position influencing current health, and that the effects would potentially be modified if the full complexity of life-time social positions were taken into account.

Bakgrund: Flertalet studier har påvisat förekomsten av skillnader i hälsa mellan olika sociala grupper i samhället. De tidigare studierna visar att det finns olika förhållanden mellan utbildningsnivå, ålder, socioekonomisk status, socialt stöd respektive kön och den självskattade hälsan. Syfte: Syftet är att undersöka den självskattade hälsan hos kvinnor med olika utbildningsnivåer i Västmanlands län, beskriva åldersskillnader samt om det finns några samband mellan självskattad hälsa och socialt stöd, ekonomisk situation och sysselsättning. Metod: Metoden utgår från en kvantitativ ansats där befintlig data från befolkningsundersökningen Hälsa på lika villkor 2012 i Västmanland har använts till analys. Resultat: Resultatet visar att det förekommer signifikanta skillnader i självskattad hälsa hos kvinnor i Västmanland med olika utbildningsnivåer, åldrar, socialt stöd, ekonomisk situation och sysselsättning. Det finns samband mellan dålig självskattad hälsa och förgymnasial- och gymnasial utbildningsnivå, ålder (50-64 år), bristande socialt stöd, ekonomiska svårigheter respektive sjukskrivning/ förtidspension samt arbetslöshet. Slutsats: Samband har identifierats mellan självskattad hälsa och utbildningsnivå samt mellan självskattad hälsa och faktorerna ålder, socialt stöd, ekonomisk situation och sysselsättning. Däremot visar studien att skillnaderna i självskattad hälsa mellan utbildningsnivåerna bland kvinnor i Västmanland med större sannolikhet beror på åldersskillnader, skillnader i socialt stöd, ekonomiska svårigheter och sysselsättning än enbart på grund av utbildningsnivån. / Background: Several studies have demonstrated the existence of differences in health between social groups. The previous studies show that there are different relationships between educational level, age, socioeconomic status, social support, sex, and self-rated health. Aims: The aim of this study is to examine differences in self-assessed health among women with different educational levels in Västmanland, describe age differences and study whether there is any associations between self-assessed health and social support, economic situation and employment. Method: This method is based on a quantitative approach where existing data from the population health survey ”Health on equal terms 2012” in Västmanland is used for analysis. Results: The results show that there are significant differences in self-rated health among women in Västmanland with different levels of education, age, social support, financial situation and employment. There is also associations between poor self-rated health and lower educational levels, age (50-64 years), lack of social support, financial hardship and sickness/ disability and unemployment. Conclusion: Correlations have been identified between self-rated health and level of education as well as between self-rated health and age, social support, financial situation and employment. However, the study shows that the differences in self-rated health between educational levels among women in Västmanland more likely due to age differences, differences in social support, financial difficulties and employment than simply because of the level of education.

The work environment constitutes a key social determinant of health, yet previous research is relatively limited vis-à-vis the contribution of both physical and psychosocial work-related stressors on occupational class differences in health among Swedish employees. This study used cross-sectional data from the Swedish Level of Living Survey 2010 to assess the mediating effect of physical and psychosocial work-related stressors to occupational class differences in physical and mental ill health in Sweden. Disparities between gender were also considered. A sub-sample of 2,624 full- and part-time employed individuals aged 18-65 was analysed using logistic regression. Employees who belonged to higher occupational classes had a lower risk of physical ill health compared to employees from lower occupational classes when age, gender and part-time work is accounted for – but there was no evidence of an occupational class gradient in mental ill health. Similar results were observed among men and women. In line with previous research, differential exposure to physical work-related stressors explained most of the occupational class gradient in physical ill health, yet certain psychosocial work-related stressors were also influential. Future research should further examine what other work-related factors – or social determinants of health – can help explain the association between occupational class and mental health.