Are wealthier folks more healthy? If that’s the case, how sturdy is that this relationship? Does it range throughout international locations?

That’s what a paper by Kyriopoulos et al. 2024 goals to reply. They measure well being and wealth utilizing a “focus index” (CI) which is calculated as follows:

CI is estimated with regards to the focus curve, which illustrates the cumulative proportion of a well being standing variable in relation to the cumulative proportion of the inhabitants, with people ranked from the least rich to the wealthiest. Particularly, CI is twice the realm between the focus curve and the 45-degree line of equality, with zero values reflecting the absence of socioeconomic inequality in well being. Opposite to the Gini index, CI quantifies inequality in a single variable (i.e., well being) based mostly on its rating relative to a different (i.e., socioeconomic measure). A constructive CI denotes that heath is extra concentrated amongst wealthiest people, with greater index values reflecting larger ranges of pro-rich inequality.

The precise model of CI used comes from Wagstaff 2005. Wealth is measured utilizing non-housing wealth (though a sensitivity evaluation makes use of complete wealth together with housing) and well being is measured utilizing self-reported well being standing on a 5-point scale (i.e., poor, honest, good, superb, wonderful). To estimate CI, they use information from the Well being and Retirement Survey (HRS) within the US and Survey of Well being, Ageing, and Retirement in Europe (SHARE) in Europe.

Utilizing this strategy, they discover:

…proof of wealth-related inequalities in self-reported well being standing throughout a number of high-income international locations, with the US demonstrating greater ranges of inequality than its European counterparts. The magnitude of those inequalities with respect to wealth remained unchanged over the examine interval throughout all international locations. 

You may learn the total paper right here.