Social inequalities in mental and physical health derived from the COVID-19 pandemic in Spain beyond SARS-CoV-2 infection

International Journal for Equity in Health

Research

Philippe Mortier¹  Gemma Vilagut¹  Jordi Alonso²  Montse Ferrer²  Isabel Moreira³  Mireia Felez-Nobrega⁴  Joan Domènech-Abella⁵  Josep-Maria Haro⁶ 

[1] Health Services Research Group, Hospital del Mar Research Institute, Doctor Aiguader 88, office 144, 08003, Barcelona, Spain;CIBER de Epidemiología y Salud Pública (CIBERESP), Barcelona, Spain;Health Services Research Group, Hospital del Mar Research Institute, Doctor Aiguader 88, office 144, 08003, Barcelona, Spain;CIBER de Epidemiología y Salud Pública (CIBERESP), Barcelona, Spain;Department of Experimental and Health Sciences, Universitat Pompeu Fabra, Barcelona, Spain;Health Services Research Group, Hospital del Mar Research Institute, Doctor Aiguader 88, office 144, 08003, Barcelona, Spain;Preventive Medicine and Public Health Training Unit PSMar-UPF-ASPB (Parc de Salut Mar – Universitat Pompeu Fabra - Agència de Salut Pública de Barcelona), Barcelona, Spain;Parc Sanitari Sant Joan de Déu, Barcelona, Spain;Parc Sanitari Sant Joan de Déu, Barcelona, Spain;CIBER de Salud Mental (CIBERSAM), Madrid, Spain;Parc Sanitari Sant Joan de Déu, Barcelona, Spain;CIBER de Salud Mental (CIBERSAM), Madrid, Spain;Instituto de Investigación del Hospital de la Princesa, Madrid, Spain;

关键词: EQ-5D-5L;    Health inequalities;    COVID-19;    Indirect impact;   

DOI  :  10.1186/s12939-023-01933-3

 received in 2022-12-12, accepted in 2023-06-12,  发布年份 2023

来源: Springer

【 摘 要 】

BackgroundUnderstanding the impact of the COVID-19 crisis on health involves conducting longitudinal studies to evaluate the inequalities that may have been exacerbated by the pandemic. The purpose of this study was to estimate differences in physical and mental health derived from the COVID-19 pandemic, beyond SARS-CoV-2 infection, in the Spanish general population according to the participants’ level of education; and to assess the evolution of these differences from June 2020 (just after the lockdown) to nine months later (February-March 2021).MethodsThis is a longitudinal prospective study of a representative sample of non-institutionalized Spanish adults, through computer-assisted telephone interviews. Mobility, self-care, usual activities, pain/discomfort and anxiety/depression problems were measured with EQ-5D-5L. Prevalence ratio (PR) between high and low education levels and adjusted PR were estimated by Poisson regression models. Analyses were stratified by gender.ResultsA total of 2,000 participants answered both surveys. Individuals with low level of education reported more health problems in both genders, and absolute inequalities remained quite constant (mobility and self-care problems) or decreased (pain/discomfort and anxiety/depression problems). The greatest relative inequalities were observed just after the lockdown, with age-adjusted PR ranging from 1.31 (95%CI 1.08–1.59) for women and 1.34 (95%CI 1.05–1.69) for men in pain/discomfort to 2.59 (95%CI 0.98–6.81) for women and 4.03 (95%CI 1.52–10.70) for men in self-care; aPR decreased after nine months for most dimensions.ConclusionsPrevalence of health problems increased during the COVID-19 pandemic in all education groups, but the increase was higher in women and men with a high level of education, suggesting that its impact appeared later in this group. Further analysis on the role of governmental economic aid given to vulnerable people might shed light on this evolution.

【 授权许可】

CC BY   
© The Author(s) 2023

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