I dati per la misura delle disuguaglianze di salute: adeguatezza, accessibilitÀ, integrazione

In: Salute e società, Heft 1, S. 43-57

Abstract

- Scientific literature provides substantial evidence on how socioeconomic circumstances influence health, showing that this association holds with any indicator of socioeconomic position, independently of the theoretical approach on which is based. The open question on the indicators used to represent socioeconomic position is: are they equal proxy of a third variable, social classification or stratification, or do they capture specific dimensions of this stratification, the impact of which would be measurable independently of the others? This paper gives a tentative answer, from the epidemiological point of view, examining the indicators of socioeconomic position most used in health research (education, employment status, occupational class, income and goods), particularly focusing on their meaning, i.e. what they intend to measure, together with how data are elicited and the validity and limitations of the indicators. Keywords: indicators, education, social class, income, sources, epidemiology, social determinants of health. Parole chiave: indicatori, istruzione, classe sociale, reddito, fonti, epidemiologia, determinanti sociali di salute.