[Socioeconomic inequality and health in Mexico].

Objective: To establish the relationship between socioeconomic inequality and health problems amongst Mexican population reviewing studies with national or regional representation.

Methods: A literature search was performed at national and international databases using the following keywords: health, disease, mental disorders, nutrition, food, social class, social status, unemployment, employment, occupation, income, wage, poverty and socioeconomic status. Reports of national or regional surveys conducted from the nineties were included.

Results: Mostly, diseases events were more common among people from low socioeconomic status: anencephaly, viral infections, anemia, transit accidents by run over, metabolic syndrome, hypertension, affective disorder, anxiety and substances abuse; some malignancies, difficulties to perform activities of daily living, and poor perceived health status. On the opposite, as it goes down in the social scale, are less frequent some protective factors (e.g. fruits or vegetables intake and physical activity) and there is less access to medical aid and preventive interventions (e.g. condom use or diagnosis and treatment for HIV infection, hypertension or obesity).

Conclusions: Socioeconomic status affects all living conditions; therefore, its effects are not confined to certain diseases, but a general precarious state of health. The conceptual and public policy implications related with social inequalities in health are discussed.