Local economic inequality and mortality: Too little within-unit variation for fixed effects analysis?

This debate article discusses the use of fixed effects models for causal analysis, with reference to an article recently published in .

Health-related exit from employment before and during the COVID-19 pandemic in Norway: Analysis of population-wide register data 2013-2021.

People with health problems experience various labor market disadvantages, such as hiring discrimination and heightened risk of firing, but the impact of deteriorating economic conditions on health-related labor market mobility remains poorly understood. The strength of the downturn/crisis will most likely make a difference. During minor downturns, when few employees are made redundant, health-related exit may occur frequently since employers prefer to keep those with good health on the payroll.

Nordic research on health inequalities: A scoping review of empirical studies published in 2000-2021.

Aims: An important task for the is to address health inequality topics. This scoping review characterises Nordic empirical studies within this research field, published 2000-2021 by the .

Methods: Original empirical research studies using data from Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway and/or Sweden, which linked differences in health or health-related aspects to socioeconomic positions, immigrant status, family structures and/or residential areas, were included in the review.

Lack of recognition at the societal level heightens turnover considerations among Nordic eldercare workers: a quantitative analysis of survey data.

Background: Recruiting and retaining staff are standing challenges in eldercare. Low pay, difficult working conditions, and social relations at the workplace impact on turnover intentions. Few studies have used quantitative data for estimating the role of recognition by the wider society for staff instability.

29 recommendations to combat social inequalities in health. The Norwegian Council on Social Inequalities in Health.

All political parties in Norway agree that social inequalities in health comprise a public health problem and should be reduced. Against this background, the Council on Social Inequalities in Health has taken action to provide specific advice to reduce social health differences. Our recommendations focus on the entire social gradient rather than just poverty and the socially disadvantaged.

Contribution of smoking and alcohol consumption to income differences in life expectancy: evidence using Danish, Finnish, Norwegian and Swedish register data.

Background: Despite being comparatively egalitarian welfare states, the Nordic countries have not been successful in reducing health inequalities. Previous studies have suggested that smoking and alcohol contribute to this pattern. Few studies have focused on variations in alcohol-related and smoking-related mortality within the Nordic countries.

Utilization of somatic specialist services among psychiatric immigrant patients: the Norwegian patient registry study.

Background: Amongst psychiatric patients, the leading causes of reduced quality of life and premature death are chronic viral infections and cardiovascular diseases. In spite of this, there are extremely high levels of disparity in somatic healthcare amongst such populations. Little research has explored patterns of healthcare utilisation and, therefore, this study aims to examine the use of somatic specialist healthcare for infectious diseases and diseases of circulatory system among psychiatric patients from different immigrant groups and ethnic Norwegians.

Hospitalisations during the final three years of life.

Bakgrunn: Kunnskap om sykehusbruk i livets sluttfase er nyttig for å forstå behovet for sykehustjenester.

Materiale Og Metode: Registeropplysninger fra Statistisk sentralbyrå og Norsk pasientregister er brukt for å analysere tallet på innleggelser ved somatiske sykehus de siste tre leveårene blant individer som døde i alderen 56-95 år.

Resultater: Analyseutvalget besto av 35 954 individer som hadde 136 484 innleggelser i observasjonsperioden.

Educational inequalities in hospital care for mortally ill patients in Norway.

Aims: Health care should be allocated fairly, irrespective of patients' social standing. Previous research suggests that highly educated patients are prioritized in Norwegian hospitals. This study examines this contentious issue by a design which addresses two methodological challenges.

Immigrants' utilization of specialist mental healthcare according to age, country of origin, and migration history: a nation-wide register study in Norway.

Purpose: As the immigrant population rises in Norway, it becomes ever more important to consider the responsiveness of health services to the specific needs of these immigrants. It has been questioned whether access to mental healthcare is adequate among all groups of immigrants. This study aims to examine the use of specialist mental healthcare services among ethnic Norwegians and specific immigrants groups.

Dental care coverage and income-related inequalities in foregone dental care in Europe during the great recession.

Objectives: This study examines income inequalities in foregone dental care in 23 European countries during the years with global economic crisis. Associations between dental care coverage from public health budgets or social insurance, and income-related inequalities in perceived access to dental care, are analysed.

Methods: Survey data 2008-2013 from 23 countries were combined with country data on macro-economic conditions and coverage for dental care.

Shape of the association between income and mortality: a cohort study of Denmark, Finland, Norway and Sweden in 1995 and 2003.

Objectives: Prior work has examined the shape of the income-mortality association, but work has not compared gradients between countries. In this study, we focus on changes over time in the shape of income-mortality gradients for 4 Nordic countries during a period of rising income inequality. Context and time differentials in shape imply that the relationship between income and mortality is not fixed.

Register study of migrants' hospitalization in Norway: world region origin, reason for migration, and length of stay.

Background: The proportion of migrants and refugees increase in many populations. Health planners have to consider how migration will influence demand for health care. This study explores how migrants' geographical origin, reason for migration, and duration of residence are associated with admission rates to somatic hospitals in Norway.

Income inequality and foregone medical care in Europe during The Great Recession: multilevel analyses of EU-SILC surveys 2008-2013.

Background: The association between income inequality and societal performance has been intensely debated in recent decades. This paper reports how unmet need for medical care has changed in Europe during The Great Recession, and investigates whether countries with smaller income differences have been more successful than inegalitarian countries in protecting access to medical care during an economic crisis.

Methods: Six waves of EU-SILC surveys (2008-2013) from 30 European countries were analyzed.

Prospective register-based study of the impact of immigration on educational inequalities in mortality in Norway.

Background: Differences in mortality with regard to socioeconomic status have widened in recent decades in many European countries, including Norway. A rapid upsurge of immigration to Norway has occurred since the 1990s. The article investigates the impact of immigration on educational mortality differences among adults in Norway.

Social Variations in Perceived Parenting Styles among Norwegian Adolescents.

Previous research has documented the associations between parenting and parenting styles and child and adolescent outcomes. Little is known, however, about the social structuring of parenting in contemporary Nordic welfare states. A possible hypothesis is that socioeconomic variations in parenting styles in present-day Norway will be small because of material affluence, limited income inequality, and an active welfare state.

The impact of relative poverty on Norwegian adolescents’ subjective health: a causal analysis with propensity score matching.

Studies have revealed that relative poverty is associated with ill health, but the interpretations of this correlation vary. This article asks whether relative poverty among Norwegian adolescents is causally related to poor subjective health, i.e.

Selection and mortality: a ten-year follow-up of income decile mortality in Norway.

Background: There is universal agreement that higher mortality goes with lower income. Opinions differ on causality: the association may reflect the damaging effect of poverty on health and survival chances. Conversely, it may reflect selection/reverse causation: low income indicates health problems, and from health problems follow a higher risk of dying.

Trends in educational inequalities in mortality, seven types of cancers, Norway 1971-2002.

Background: Knowledge about educational disparities in deaths from specific cancer sites is incomplete. Even more scant is information about time trends in educational patterns in specific cancer mortality. This study examines educational inequalities in Norway 1971-2002 for mortality in lung and larynx, colorectal, stomach, melanoma, prostate, breast and cervix uteri cancer.

Does the socioeconomic context explain both mortality and income inequality? Prospective register-based study of Norwegian regions.

Background: Studies from various countries have observed worse population health in geographical areas with more income inequality. The psychosocial interpretation of this association is that large income disparities are harmful to health because they generate relative deprivation and undermine social cohesion. An alternative explanation contends that the association between income inequality and ill health arises because the underlying social and economic structures will influence both the level of illness and disease and the size of income differences.

The role of welfare state principles and generosity in social policy programmes for public health: an international comparative study.

Background: Many important social determinants of health are also the focus for social policies. Welfare states contribute to the resources available for their citizens through cash transfer programmes and subsidised services. Although all rich nations have welfare programmes, there are clear cross-national differences with respect to their design and generosity.

Job stress, sickness absence and sickness presenteeism in Nordic elderly care.

Aims: Nordic elderly care has been restructured to obtain more efficiency. Among workers caring for the elderly, levels of perceived job stress could vary, due to understaffing and resource scarcity. This study examines how sickness absence and sickness presenteeism are associated with perceived job stress.

Associations between relative income and mortality in Norway: a register-based study.

Background: Current research on health inequalities suggests that not only an individual's absolute level of income but also his/her relative position in the income hierarchy could have health consequences. This study examines whether relative income was associated with individuals' mortality in Norway during the 1990s.

Methods: Data were formed by linkages of Norwegian administrative registers.

[Skewed income distribution and geographical mortality differences].

Background: A prominent theme in current health research is whether large income inequality in a society in itself has negative consequences for population health, in addition to the effects of individual risk factors. The present study investigates whether mortality in Norway during the 1990s was higher in geographical regions with particularly skewed income distributions.

Material And Methods: Register data for all inhabitants aged 25-66 in Norway in 1992 were used (N = approx.