IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/hepoli/v131y2023ics0168851023000611.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Trajectories of the socioeconomic gradient of mental health: Results from the CLSA COVID-19 Questionnaire Study

Author

Listed:
  • Asada, Yukiko
  • Grignon, Michel
  • Hurley, Jeremiah
  • Stewart, Samuel A.
  • Smith, Nathan K.
  • Kirkland, Susan
  • McMillan, Jacqueline
  • Griffith, Lauren E.
  • Wolfson, Christina
  • Raina, Parminder

Abstract

As the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic prolongs, documenting trajectories of the socioeconomic gradient of mental health is important. We describe changes in the prevalence and absolute and relative income-related inequalities of mental health between April and December 2020 in Canada. We used data from the Canadian Longitudinal Study on Aging (CLSA) COVID-19 Questionnaire Study and the pre-pandemic CLSA Follow-up 1. We estimated the prevalence proportion, the concentration index (relative inequality), and the generalized concentration index (absolute inequality) for anxiety and self-reported feeling generally unwell at multiple points in April-December 2020, overall, by sex and age group, by region, and among those who reported poor or fair overall health and mental health pre-pandemic. Overall, the prevalence of anxiety remained unchanged (22.45 to 22.10%, p = 0.231), but self-reported feeling generally unwell decreased (9.83 to 5.94%, p = 0.004). Relative and absolute income-related inequalities were unchanged for both anxiety and self-reported feeling generally unwell, with exceptions of an increased concentration of self-reported feeling generally unwell among the poor, measured by the concentration index, overall (-0.054 to -0.115, p = 0.004) and in Ontario (-0.035 to -0.123, p = 0.047) and British Columbia (-0.055 to -0.141, p = 0.044). The COVID-19 pandemic appeared to neither exacerbate nor ameliorate existing income-related inequalities in mental health among older adults in Canada between April and December 2020. Continued monitoring of inequalities is necessary.

Suggested Citation

  • Asada, Yukiko & Grignon, Michel & Hurley, Jeremiah & Stewart, Samuel A. & Smith, Nathan K. & Kirkland, Susan & McMillan, Jacqueline & Griffith, Lauren E. & Wolfson, Christina & Raina, Parminder, 2023. "Trajectories of the socioeconomic gradient of mental health: Results from the CLSA COVID-19 Questionnaire Study," Health Policy, Elsevier, vol. 131(C).
  • Handle: RePEc:eee:hepoli:v:131:y:2023:i:c:s0168851023000611
    DOI: 10.1016/j.healthpol.2023.104758
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0168851023000611
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only

    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1016/j.healthpol.2023.104758?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Zajacova, Anna & Jehn, Anthony & Stackhouse, Matthew & Choi, Kate H. & Denice, Patrick & Haan, Michael & Ramos, Howard, 2020. "Mental Health and Economic Concerns from March to May during the COVID-19 Pandemic in Canada," SocArXiv 76me2, Center for Open Science.
    2. Eric Vaz, 2021. "COVID-19 in Toronto: A Spatial Exploratory Analysis," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(2), pages 1-15, January.
    3. Owen O’Donnell & Stephen O’Neill & Tom Van Ourti & Brendan Walsh, 2016. "conindex: Estimation of concentration indices," Stata Journal, StataCorp LP, vol. 16(1), pages 112-138, March.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. M. Djiguemde & D. Dubois & A. Sauquet & M. Tidball, 2022. "Continuous Versus Discrete Time in Dynamic Common Pool Resource Game Experiments," Environmental & Resource Economics, Springer;European Association of Environmental and Resource Economists, vol. 82(4), pages 985-1014, August.
    2. Slawa Rokicki & Mark E. McGovern, 2020. "Heterogeneity in Early Life Investments: A Longitudinal Analysis of Children's Time Use," Review of Income and Wealth, International Association for Research in Income and Wealth, vol. 66(3), pages 647-676, September.
    3. Gashaw Andargie Biks & Fisseha Shiferie & Dawit Abraham Tsegaye & Wondwossen Asefa & Frank DelPizzo & Samson Gebremedhin, 2024. "Understanding Socioeconomic Inequalities in Zero-Dose Children for Vaccination in Underserved Settings of Ethiopia: Decomposition Analysis Approach," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 21(8), pages 1-13, August.
    4. Atakorah, Yaw Boateng & Arthur, Eric & Osei-Fosu, Anthony Kofi & Novignon, Jacob, 2024. "Economic inequalities in health insurance subscription renewal: Evidence from Ghana's National Health Insurance Scheme," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 341(C).
    5. Azharuddin Akhtar & Indrani Roy Chowdhury, 2023. "The socioeconomic inequity in healthcare utilization among individuals with cardiovascular diseases in India," Health Economics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 32(5), pages 1000-1018, May.
    6. Barrenho, Eliana & Halmai, Réka & Miraldo, Marisa & Tzintzun, Iván & Raïs Ali, Setti & Toulemon, Léa & Dupont, Jean-Claude K. & Rochaix, Lise, 2022. "Inequities in cancer drug development in terms of unmet medical need," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 302(C).
    7. David Madden, 2020. "The Base of Party Political Support in Ireland: An Update," The Economic and Social Review, Economic and Social Studies, vol. 51(1), pages 93-103.
    8. Conrad Murendo & Gamuchirai Murenje & Pepukai Prince Chivenge & Rumbidzai Mtetwa, 2021. "Financial Inclusion, Nutrition and Socio‐Economic Status Among Rural Households in Guruve and Mount Darwin Districts, Zimbabwe," Journal of International Development, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 33(1), pages 86-108, January.
    9. Khaled, Mohamad A. & Makdissi, Paul & Yazbeck, Myra, 2018. "Income-related health transfers principles and orderings of joint distributions of income and health," Journal of Health Economics, Elsevier, vol. 57(C), pages 315-331.
    10. Sveréus, Sofia & Kjellsson, Gustav & Rehnberg, Clas, 2018. "Socioeconomic distribution of GP visits following patient choice reform and differences in reimbursement models: Evidence from Sweden," Health Policy, Elsevier, vol. 122(9), pages 949-956.
    11. Laura Rossouw & Hana Ross, 2021. "Understanding Period Poverty: Socio-Economic Inequalities in Menstrual Hygiene Management in Eight Low- and Middle-Income Countries," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 18(5), pages 1-14, March.
    12. Gustav Kjellsson & Dennis Petrie & Tom (T.G.M.) van Ourti, 2018. "Measuring income-related inequalities in risky health prospects," Tinbergen Institute Discussion Papers 18-007/V, Tinbergen Institute.
    13. Wesselbaum, Dennis & Smith, Michael D. & Barrett, Christopher B. & Aiyar, Anaka, 2023. "A food insecurity Kuznets Curve?," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 165(C).
    14. Bartram, Mary & Stewart, Jennifer M., 2019. "Income-based inequities in access to psychotherapy and other mental health services in Canada and Australia," Health Policy, Elsevier, vol. 123(1), pages 45-50.
    15. Blessing J Akombi & Kingsley E Agho & Andre M Renzaho & John J Hall & Dafna R Merom, 2019. "Trends in socioeconomic inequalities in child undernutrition: Evidence from Nigeria Demographic and Health Survey (2003 – 2013)," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 14(2), pages 1-13, February.
    16. Rajah, Nasir & Mattock, Richard & Martin, Adam, 2023. "How do childhood ADHD symptoms affect labour market outcomes?," Economics & Human Biology, Elsevier, vol. 48(C).
    17. Yu Fu & Mingsheng Chen, 2022. "The Impact of Multimorbidities on Catastrophic Health Expenditures among Patients Suffering from Hypertension in China: An Analysis of Nationwide Representative Data," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(13), pages 1-15, June.
    18. Kjell Arne Brekke & Snorre Kverndokk, 2024. "Health, Income, and Measures of Inequality – Why Inequality May Decline When All Inequality Measures Indicate the Opposite," CESifo Working Paper Series 11318, CESifo.
    19. Walsh, Brendan & Wren, Maev-Ann & Smith, Samantha & Lyons, Seán & Eighan, James & Morgenroth, Edgar, 2019. "An analysis of the effects on Irish hospital care of the supply of care inside and outside the hospital," Research Series, Economic and Social Research Institute (ESRI), number RS91.
    20. Neema Langa & Tirth Bhatta, 2020. "The rural-urban divide in Tanzania: Residential context and socioeconomic inequalities in maternal health care utilization," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 15(11), pages 1-18, November.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:eee:hepoli:v:131:y:2023:i:c:s0168851023000611. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Catherine Liu or the person in charge (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.elsevier.com/locate/healthpol .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.