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  Vol. 269 No. 24, June 23, 1993 TABLE OF CONTENTS
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Socioeconomic Inequalities in Health

No Easy Solution

Nancy E. Adler, PhD; W. Thomas Boyce, MD; Margaret A. Chesney, PhD; Susan Folkman, PhD; S. Leonard Syme, PhD

JAMA. 1993;269(24):3140-3145.


Abstract

Objective.
—Socioeconomic status (SES) is strongly associated with risk of disease and mortality. Universal health insurance is being debated as one remedy for such health inequalities. This article considers mechanisms through which SES affects health and argues that a broader and more comprehensive approach is needed.

Data Sources.
—Published articles surveyed using MEDLINE and review articles and bibliographies.

Methods and Results.
—Research is reviewed on the association of SES with health outcomes in different countries, including those with universal health coverage. Socioeconomic status relates to health at all levels of the SES hierarchy, and access to care accounts for little of this association. Other mechanisms are suggested and implications for policy and clinical practice are discussed.

Conclusion.
—Health insurance coverage alone is not likely to reduce significantly SES differences in health. Attention should be paid both in policy decisions and in clinical practice to other SES-related factors that may influence patterns of health and disease.

(JAMA. 1993;269:3140-3145)



Author Affiliations

From the Departments of Psychiatry (Dr Adler), Pediatrics (Drs Adler and Boyce), Epidemiology and Biostatistics (Dr Chesney), Medicine (Dr Folkman), and the Center for AIDS Prevention Studies (Drs Chesney and Folkman), University of California, San Francisco; and the Department of Biomedical and Environmental Health Sciences, School of Public Health, University of California, Berkeley (Dr Syme).


Footnotes

Reprint requests to Graduate Program in Health Psychology, University of California, 1350 Seventh Ave, CSBS-204, San Francisco, CA 94143-0844 (Dr Adler).



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