Associations Between Income Inequality and Mortality Among US States

The Importance of Time Period and Source of Income Data

Bibliographic Data

ID11024740
AuthorsJohn Lynch (0000-0003-2781-7902, John Lynch, Sam Harper, and George A. Kaplan are with the Center for Social Epidemiology and Population Health, Department of Epidemiology, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor. John Lynch is also with the Department of Epidemiology, Biostatistics and Occupational Health, McGill University, Montreal, Quebec. George Davey Smith is with the Department of Social Medicine, University of Bristol, Bristol, England.), Sam Harper (0000-0002-1590-2387, John Lynch, Sam Harper, and George A. Kaplan are with the Center for Social Epidemiology and Population Health, Department of Epidemiology, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor. John Lynch is also with the Department of Epidemiology, Biostatistics and Occupational Health, McGill University, Montreal, Quebec. George Davey Smith is with the Department of Social Medicine, University of Bristol, Bristol, England.), George A Kaplan (John Lynch, Sam Harper, and George A. Kaplan are with the Center for Social Epidemiology and Population Health, Department of Epidemiology, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor. John Lynch is also with the Department of Epidemiology, Biostatistics and Occupational Health, McGill University, Montreal, Quebec. George Davey Smith is with the Department of Social Medicine, University of Bristol, Bristol, England.), Gregory D Smith (0000-0002-1407-8314, University of the West of England), George Davey Smith (John Lynch, Sam Harper, and George A. Kaplan are with the Center for Social Epidemiology and Population Health, Department of Epidemiology, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor. John Lynch is also with the Department of Epidemiology, Biostatistics and Occupational Health, McGill University, Montreal, Quebec. George Davey Smith is with the Department of Social Medicine, University of Bristol, Bristol, England.)
Year2005
Volume95
Issue8
Pages1424-1430
Publication date2005-08-01
Open AccessNo
TypeARTICLE
VenueAmerican Journal of Public Health (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 0090-0036 • E-ISSN: 1541-0048
PublisherAmerican Public Health Association (PUBLISHER • US)
DOI10.2105/ajph.2004.048439
PMID16006417
PMCIDPMC1449376
OpenAlexW2141916720
LanguageEN
Citations received14
References cited12

Objectives. We used census data to examine associations between income inequality and mortality among US states for each decade from 1949 to 1999 and tax return income data to estimate associations for 1989. Methods. Cross-sectional correlation analyses were used to assess income inequality–mortality relationships. Results. Census income analyses revealed little association between income inequality and mortality for 1949, 1959, or 1969. An association emerged for 1979 and strengthened for 1989 but weakened for 1999. When income inequality was based on tax return data, associations were weaker for both 1989 and 1999. Conclusions. The strong association between income inequality and mortality observed among US states for 1989 was not observed for other periods from 1949 through 1999. In addition, when tax return rather than census data were used, the association was weaker for 1989 and 1999. The potential for distal social determinants of population health (e.g., income inequality) to affect mortality is contingent on how such determinants influence levels of proximal risk factors and the time lags between exposure to those risk factors and effects on specific health outcomes

Demographic economics · Economic inequality · Economics · Environmental health · Inequality · Period (music) · Sociology · Demography · Employment and Welfare Studies · Food Security and Health in Diverse Populations · Health disparities and outcomes · Mathematics · Medicine

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