Health equity
Did US premature-death inequities only widen as health improved?
Open access · cc by · source: Europe PMC
US premature mortality inequities shrank in the late 1960s–1970s then widened or stagnated—showing disparities do not automatically move with average health.
Key findings
Inequities fell especially between 1966 and 1980 (notably for populations of color), then relative gaps widened and absolute gaps stagnated. Relative premature-mortality ratios of about 1.3 in 1970/1980 rose later.
Methodology
Researchers tracked premature mortality and infant death across US county income quintiles and racial/ethnic groups from 1960 to 2002, comparing absolute and relative inequities over time.
Limitations
County income is an ecological SES proxy; the study does not identify a single causal policy that produced the fall-then-rise pattern.
How this study connects
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