Equity in health status among the elderly with different income

ObjectiveTo investigate the equity in health status among the elderly with different econonic condition and to provide the basis for the reform of health sectors and the allocation of health resources.MethodsA questionnaire survey was conducted among 4 635 residents aged ≥60 years selected with multi-stage stratified random cluster sampling from 8 communities in Suzhou city,Jiangsu province.ResultsThe prevalences of chronic diseases and activities of daily living (ADL)limitation were 78.1% and 8.8% among the elderly and the concentration index(CI)of the two prevalences ware 0.043(0.035 for male,0.061 for female)and-0.194(-0.137 for male,-0.216 for female).For the elderly with different income levels of <500,500-999,1 000-1 999,and≥2 000 RMB Yuan per month,the prevalences of chronic diseases were 71.2%,73.3%,80.4%,and 84.2% and the prevalences of ADL limitation were 14.3%,7.7%,7.5%,and 5.7%,respectively,with significant differences(P<0.001 for all).The top five chronic diseases were high blood pressure (51.3%),diabetes(14.2%),heart disease(11.2%),arthritis(11.1%),and high cholesterol(8.3%),with the highest CI for high cholesterol(0.411)and the lowest CI for high blood pressure(0.032).The proportions of the elderly with 1,2,and ≥3 chronic diseases was 44.9%,21.7%,and 7.8%,with the CI values of-0.056,0.128,and 0.214,respectively.ConclusionInequality exists in the health status among the elderly with different income in Suzhow city.