264597 Onset verses Progression of Chronic Health Problems: Role of Life-long Socioeconomic Position and Health Behavior

Monday, October 29, 2012 : 12:54 PM - 1:06 PM

Rashmita Basu, PhD , Center for Applied Health Research, SCott & White HealthCare, Temple, TX
Research Objectives: The primary objective of this study is to examine how different facets of socioeconomic status (SES) (wealth, education) during the life-course influence different stages of health problems-onset versus progression of chronic illnesses among adults. Study Design: This study employs five waves (1998-2006) of the Health and Retirement Survey (HRS) data to examine how education, wealth, and childhood SES vary in importance to predict: (1) the onset of chronic health problem and (2) the progression of poor to worse health or to death. The onset of illness was measured by the transition from the good health to the onset of one or more health problems, or death between time periods. The progression of health problem was measured by the change in number of health problems and severity of problems between successive waves. Multinomial logistic regressions with robust standard errors (Huber-White sandwich estimator) are estimated to account for correlation within subjects for both the onset and progression models. Sociodemographic and other lifestyle behaviors were controlled in the analyses. Results/Discussion: Controlling for lifestyle and health behaviors, lower childhood SES was associated with higher odds of the onset as well as progression of chronic health problems. Education is more predictive of the onset of chronic health problems, while family wealth is more strongly associated than education with the progression of health problems. Conclusions: Reducing socioeconomic disparities during the early course of life may have implications for delaying the manifestation of chronic illnesses as well as slowing the progression of chronic health problems.

Learning Areas:
Chronic disease management and prevention
Public health or related research

Learning Objectives:
The objective of this study is to identify how different aspect of socioeconomic status influence different stages of chronic illnesses: onest verses progression. Compare the importance of education and wealth on the onset verses progression of chronic health problems.

Keywords: Chronic Illness, Education

Presenting author's disclosure statement:

Qualified on the content I am responsible for because: I am qualified because I have been the principal invstigators in multiple resrach projects focusing on prevention and management of chronic illness among older adults.
Any relevant financial relationships? No

I agree to comply with the American Public Health Association Conflict of Interest and Commercial Support Guidelines, and to disclose to the participants any off-label or experimental uses of a commercial product or service discussed in my presentation.