Economic opportunity, health behaviors, and mortality in the United States

A.S. Venkataramani, P. Chatterjee, I. Kawachi and A.C. Tsai

American Journal of Public Health, 2016, vol. 106, issue 3, 478-484

Abstract: Objectives.Weassessed whether economic opportunity was independently associated with health behaviors and outcomes in the United States. Methods. Using newly available, cross-sectional, county-level data from the Equality of Opportunity Project Database and vital statistics, we estimated associations between all-cause mortality rates (averaged over 2000-2012) and economic opportunity, adjusting for socioeconomic, demographic, and health system covariates. Our measure of economic opportunity was the county-average rank in the national income distribution attained by individuals born to families in the bottom income quartile. Secondary outcomes included rates of age- and race-specific mortality, smoking, obesity, hypertension, and diabetes. Results. An increase in economic opportunity from the lowest to the highest quintile was associated with a 16.7% decrease in mortality. The magnitudes of association were largest for working-age adults and African Americans. Greater economic opportunity was also associated with health behaviors and risk factors. Conclusions. Economic opportunity is a robust, independent predictor of health. Future work should investigate underlying causal links and mechanisms.

Keywords: adult; African American; age distribution; aged; Caucasian; cross-sectional study; diabetes mellitus; female; health behavior; health status; human; hypertension; income; male; middle aged; mortality; obesity; risk factor; socioeconomics; statistics and numerical data; United States, Adult; African Americans; Age Distribution; Aged; Cross-Sectional Studies; Diabetes Mellitus; European Continental Ancestry Group; Female; Health Behavior; Health Status; Humans; Hypertension; Income; Male; Middle Aged; Mortality; Obesity; Risk Factors; Socioeconomic Factors; United States (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2016
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Citations: View citations in EconPapers (2)

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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:aph:ajpbhl:10.2105/ajph.2015.302941_7

DOI: 10.2105/AJPH.2015.302941

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