Is Low Educated Women’s Health Worsening Faster than Other Educational Groups? Results from Catalonia (Spain)

Aïda Solé-Auró, Universitat Pompeu Fabra
Manuela Alcañiz, Universitat de Barcelona

Health expectancies vary worldwide according SES. The lower SES usually show health disadvantage and the higher SES a health advantage compared to the average. The educational level is strongly linked to their SES. Objective: We propose to identify the evolution of SES differentials in health by gender, looking at females specially. We focus on the Catalan population (Spain), aged 55 or older. Methods: We used individual cross-sectional data obtained in 1994 and in 2012 from the Catalan Health Survey. We examined three comprehensive health indicators to disentangle the health and disability statuses in order to document social differences in health. We applied logistic models for each indicator, controlling for socio-demographic characteristics, living arrangements and health behaviors. Results: Low educated, particularly females, suffered significant increments in the prevalences of functional and daily living limitations between 1994 and 2012. Higher educated individuals widened their health differences with the less advantaged groups.