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AJPH First Look, published online ahead of print Jan 15, 2009
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AJPH.2007.129361v1
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October 2009, Vol 99, No. 10 | American Journal of Public Health 1856-1863
© 2009 American Public Health Association
DOI: 10.2105/AJPH.2007.129361

RESEARCH AND PRACTICE

Income-Related Health Inequalities in Canada and the United States: A Decomposition Analysis

Kimberlyn M. McGrail, PhD, Eddy van Doorslaer, PhD, Nancy A. Ross, PhD and Claudia Sanmartin, PhD

Kimberlyn M. McGrail, Nancy A. Ross, and Claudia Sanmartin are with the Health Information and Research Division, Statistics Canada, Ottawa, Ontario. Kimberlyn M. McGrail is also with the Centre for Health Services and Policy Research, University of British Columbia, Vancouver. Nancy A. Ross is also with McGill University, Montreal, Quebec. Eddy van Doorslaer is with Erasmus University, Rotterdam, Netherlands.

Correspondence: Requests for reprints should be sent to Kimberlyn McGrail, MPH, PhD, Centre for Health Services and Policy Research, The University of British Columbia, 201-2206 East Mall, Vancouver, BC V6T 1Z3 Canada (e-mail: kmcgrail{at}chspr.ubc.ca).

Objectives. We examined income-related inequalities in self-reported health in the United States and Canada and the extent to which they are associated with individual-level risk factors and health care system characteristics.

Methods. We estimated income inequalities with concentration indexes and curves derived from comparable survey data from the 2002 to 2003 Joint Canada–US Survey of Health. Inequalities were then decomposed by regression and decomposition analysis to distinguish the contributions of various factors.

Results. The distribution of income accounted for close to half of income-related health inequalities in both the United States and Canada. Health care system factors (e.g., unmet needs and health insurance status) and risk factors (e.g., physical inactivity and obesity) contributed more to income-related health inequalities in the United States than to those in Canada.

Conclusions. Individual-level health risk factors and health care system characteristics have similar associations with health status in both countries, but they both are far more prevalent and much more concentrated among lower-income groups in the United States than in Canada.






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