IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/socmed/v69y2009i10p1460-1467.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Can subjective and objective socioeconomic status explain minority health disparities in Israel?

Author

Listed:
  • Baron-Epel, Orna
  • Kaplan, Giora

Abstract

Disparities in health exist between the three main population groups in Israel, non-immigrant Jews, immigrants from the former Soviet Union (arriving in Israel since 1990) and Arabs. This study examines the relationship between health and socioeconomic status in this multicultural population and assesses to what extent subjective and objective socioeconomic measures may explain the disparities in health. AÂ random cross sectional telephone survey of 1004 Israelis aged 35-65 was performed. The questionnaire measured physical and mental health-related quality of life using the Short Form 12. Information regarding subjective socioeconomic status (SSS) and objective socioeconomic status (SES) was collected. Arabs and immigrant women from the former Soviet Union had worse physical health compared to non-immigrant Jews. Immigrant and Arab men and women had worse mental health compared to non-immigrant Jews. Multivariable log-linear regression analysis adjusting for age, SSS or SES explained the disparities in physical health between Arab and non-immigrant Jewish men. However, SSS and SES did not explain the disparities in physical health between the three groups of women. The disparities in mental health between immigrants and non-immigrant Jews can be explained by SSS for both men and women, whereas the disparities between Arabs and Jews can be explained by objective SES only among women. Employed men reported better physical and mental health. Part of the disparities in mental health in Israel can be attributed to differences in SSS and SES in the different groups. However, there is a need to identify additional factors that may add to the disparities in both physical and mental health. The disparities due to socioeconomic status vary by health measure and population group.

Suggested Citation

  • Baron-Epel, Orna & Kaplan, Giora, 2009. "Can subjective and objective socioeconomic status explain minority health disparities in Israel?," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 69(10), pages 1460-1467, November.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:socmed:v:69:y:2009:i:10:p:1460-1467
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0277-9536(09)00566-8
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only
    ---><---

    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. Adler, Nancy & Singh-Manoux, Archana & Schwartz, Joseph & Stewart, Judith & Matthews, Karen & Marmot, Michael G., 2008. "Social status and health: A comparison of British civil servants in Whitehall-II with European- and African-Americans in CARDIA," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 66(5), pages 1034-1045, March.
    2. Michael Lokshin & Martin Ravallion, 2008. "Testing for an economic gradient in health status using subjective data," Health Economics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 17(11), pages 1237-1259.
    3. Singh-Manoux, Archana & Adler, Nancy E. & Marmot, Michael G., 2003. "Subjective social status: its determinants and its association with measures of ill-health in the Whitehall II study," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 56(6), pages 1321-1333, March.
    4. Backlund, Eric & Sorlie, Paul D. & Johnson, Norman J., 1999. "A comparison of the relationships of education and income with mortality: the national longitudinal mortality study," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 49(10), pages 1373-1384, November.
    5. Franzini, Luisa & Fernandez-Esquer, Maria Eugenia, 2006. "The association of subjective social status and health in low-income Mexican-origin individuals in Texas," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 63(3), pages 788-804, August.
    6. Michael Lokshin & Martin Ravallion, 2008. "Testing for an economic gradient in health status using subjective data," Health Economics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 17(11), pages 1237-1259, November.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Abu-Qarn, Aamer & Lichtman-Sadot, Shirlee, 2021. "Older Adult Health Following Greater Access to Secondary Health Care: Evidence from Bus Service Introductions to Arab Towns in Israel," IZA Discussion Papers 14490, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    2. Amira Osman & Katrina M. Walsemann, 2017. "Ethnic Disparities in the Onset and Progression of Functional Limitations Among Israeli Middle-Aged and Older Adults: Socioeconomic and Health-Related Pathways," The Journals of Gerontology: Series B, The Gerontological Society of America, vol. 72(1), pages 140-150.
    3. Marcel Sieberer & Saša Maksimović & Burcu Ersöz & Wielant Machleidt & Marc Ziegenbein & Iris T. Calliess, 2012. "Depressive symptoms in first-and second-generation migrants: A cross-sectional study of a multi-ethnic working population," International Journal of Social Psychiatry, , vol. 58(6), pages 605-613, November.
    4. Abu-Qarn, Aamer & Lichtman-Sadot, Shirlee, 2022. "Can greater access to secondary health care decrease health inequality? Evidence from bus line introduction to Arab towns in Israel," Economic Modelling, Elsevier, vol. 106(C).
    5. Pedro Marques-Vidal & Peter Vollenweider & Gérard Waeber & Fred Paccaud, 2012. "The prevalence and management of cardiovascular risk factors in immigrant groups in Switzerland," International Journal of Public Health, Springer;Swiss School of Public Health (SSPH+), vol. 57(1), pages 63-77, February.
    6. Mesch, Gustavo & Mano, Rita & Tsamir, Judith, 2012. "Minority status and health information search: A test of the social diversification hypothesis," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 75(5), pages 854-858.
    7. Sharon Merkin & Hadar Arditi-Babchuk & Tamy Shohat, 2015. "Neighborhood socioeconomic status and self-rated health in Israel: the Israel National Health Interview Survey," International Journal of Public Health, Springer;Swiss School of Public Health (SSPH+), vol. 60(6), pages 651-658, September.
    8. Md. Emaj Uddin, 2017. "Family Demographic Mechanisms Linking of Socioeconomic Status to Subjective Physical Health in Rural Bangladesh," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 130(3), pages 1263-1279, February.
    9. Ameed Saabneh, 2015. "Ethnic Health Inequalities in Unequal Societies: Morbidity Gaps Between Palestinians and Jews in Israel," European Journal of Population, Springer;European Association for Population Studies, vol. 31(4), pages 445-466, October.
    10. Anat Jaffe & Shmuel Giveon & Liat Wulffhart & Bernice Oberman & Maslama Baidousi & Arnona Ziv & Ofra Kalter-Leibovici, 2017. "Adult Arabs have higher risk for diabetes mellitus than Jews in Israel," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 12(5), pages 1-9, May.

    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. Alcántara, Carmela & Chen, Chih-Nan & Alegría, Margarita, 2014. "Do post-migration perceptions of social mobility matter for Latino immigrant health?," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 101(C), pages 94-106.
    2. Reitzel, Lorraine R. & Mazas, Carlos A. & Cofta-Woerpel, Ludmila & Vidrine, Jennifer I. & Businelle, Michael S. & Kendzor, Darla E. & Li, Yisheng & Cao, Yumei & Wetter, David W., 2010. "Acculturative and neighborhood influences on subjective social status among Spanish-speaking Latino immigrant smokers," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 70(5), pages 677-683, March.
    3. Hong Zou & Qianqian Xiong & Hongwei Xu, 2020. "Does Subjective Social Status Predict Self-Rated Health in Chinese Adults and Why?," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 152(2), pages 443-471, November.
    4. Subramanyam, Malavika A. & Diez-Roux, Ana V. & Hickson, DeMarc A. & Sarpong, Daniel F. & Sims, Mario & Taylor, Herman A. & Williams, David R. & Wyatt, Sharon B., 2012. "Subjective social status and psychosocial and metabolic risk factors for cardiovascular disease among African Americans in the Jackson Heart Study," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 74(8), pages 1146-1154.
    5. Wolff, Lisa S. & Subramanian, S.V. & Acevedo-Garcia, Dolores & Weber, Deanne & Kawachi, Ichiro, 2010. "Compared to whom? Subjective social status, self-rated health, and referent group sensitivity in a diverse US sample," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 70(12), pages 2019-2028, June.
    6. Sakurai, Keiko & Kawakami, Norito & Yamaoka, Kazue & Ishikawa, Hirono & Hashimoto, Hideki, 2010. "The impact of subjective and objective social status on psychological distress among men and women in Japan," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 70(11), pages 1832-1839, June.
    7. Matthew A. Andersson, 2018. "An Odd Ladder to Climb: Socioeconomic Differences Across Levels of Subjective Social Status," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 136(2), pages 621-643, April.
    8. Landefeld, John C. & Burmaster, Katharine B. & Rehkopf, David H. & Syme, S. Leonard & Lahiff, Maureen & Adler-Milstein, Sarah & Fernald, Lia C.H., 2014. "The association between a living wage and subjective social status and self-rated health: A quasi-experimental study in the Dominican Republic," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 121(C), pages 91-97.
    9. Nobles, Jenna & Weintraub, Miranda Ritterman & Adler, Nancy E., 2013. "Subjective socioeconomic status and health: Relationships reconsidered," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 82(C), pages 58-66.
    10. Jerneja Farkas & Majda Pahor & Lijana Zaletel-Kragelj, 2011. "Self-rated health in different social classes of Slovenian adult population: nationwide cross-sectional study," International Journal of Public Health, Springer;Swiss School of Public Health (SSPH+), vol. 56(1), pages 45-54, February.
    11. Koen Decancq, 2014. "Copula-based measurement of dependence between dimensions of well-being," Oxford Economic Papers, Oxford University Press, vol. 66(3), pages 681-701.
    12. Garbarski, Dana, 2010. "Perceived social position and health: Is there a reciprocal relationship?," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 70(5), pages 692-699, March.
    13. Fleuriet, K. Jill & Sunil, T.S., 2015. "Reproductive habitus, psychosocial health, and birth weight variation in Mexican immigrant and Mexican American women in south Texas," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 138(C), pages 102-109.
    14. Valerii Baidin & Christopher J. Gerry & Maria Kaneva, 2021. "How Self-Rated is Self-Rated Health? Exploring the Role of Individual and Institutional Factors in Reporting Heterogeneity in Russia," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 155(2), pages 675-696, June.
    15. Raskina, Yulia & Podkorytova, Olga & Kuchakov, Ruslan, 2022. "Health determinants and the reporting heterogeneity bias in Russia: Anchoring vignettes approach," Applied Econometrics, Russian Presidential Academy of National Economy and Public Administration (RANEPA), vol. 66, pages 118-143.
    16. Ravallion, Martin & Himelein, Kristen & Beegle, Kathleen, 2013. "Can subjective questions on economic welfare be trusted ? evidence for three developing countries," Policy Research Working Paper Series 6726, The World Bank.
    17. Jens Hoebel & Ulrike E Maske & Hajo Zeeb & Thomas Lampert, 2017. "Social Inequalities and Depressive Symptoms in Adults: The Role of Objective and Subjective Socioeconomic Status," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 12(1), pages 1-18, January.
    18. Ren Mu, 2014. "Regional Disparities In Self‐Reported Health: Evidence From Chinese Older Adults," Health Economics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 23(5), pages 529-549, May.
    19. Koen Decancq & María Ana Lugo, 2009. "Measuring inequality of well-being with a correlation-sensitive multidimensional Gini index," Working Papers 124, ECINEQ, Society for the Study of Economic Inequality.
    20. Tommy Haugan & Sally Muggleton & Arnhild Myhr, 2021. "Psychological distress in late adolescence: The role of inequalities in family affluence and municipal socioeconomic characteristics in Norway," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 16(7), pages 1-25, July.

    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:socmed:v:69:y:2009:i:10:p:1460-1467. 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 (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.elsevier.com/wps/find/journaldescription.cws_home/315/description#description .

    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.