Author/Editor		Malnar, Brina; Kurdija, Slavko
Title		Trends in subjective health assesment between 1981 and 2011 as an indicator of persistent social inequalities
Translated title		Trendi ocen subjektivnega zdravja v obdobju 1981-2011 kot kazalnik vztrajajočih družbenih neenakosti
Type		članek
Source		Zdrav Vars
Vol. and No.		Letnik 51, št. 1
Publication year		2012
Volume		str. 11-20
Language		eng
Abstract		Background: Historically speaking, public health systems were established to guarantee every citizen equal access to health care and to separate the issue of an individual's health from issues of material welbeing. Using social science methodology, the study set out to explore how successful the welfare system in Slovenia was in achieving this goal during the last three decades, i.e. to what extent social inequalities in Slovenia are being reproduced as health inequalities. Methods: The study is based on six waves of Slovenian Public Opinion surveys carried out between 1981 and 2011 on representative samples of the adult Slovenian population. The main dependent variable is the respondent's selfassessed health and the main independent variable is his or her socio-economic status. The relationship between them was examined using Chi-square tests and regression analysis. Results: The thirty year trend shows persisting inequalities in health as throughout the entire period, self-assessed health is significantly lower at the bottom of the educational and income scale. The largest differences between social strata are observed in the 30 to 60 age group when labour market pressures are most pronounced. Conclusions: The results indicate that inequalities in health are almost impossible to eliminate as long as their deeper causes lie in social inequality. An additional factor that decreases self-assessed health in Slovenia compared to Western Europe is the low level of trust in people and social institutions, which is the likely reason why the relatively favourable statistical picture of social inequalities is not translated into an equally favourable picture of subjective health.
Summary		Uvod: Zgodovinsko gledano, je bil cilj javnega zdravstva vsem prebivalcem zagotoviti enak dostop do zdravstvenega varstva in s tem ločiti vprašanje zdravja od problematike materialnega standarda posameznika. Namen študije je bil z uporabo družboslovne anketne metode posredno odgovoriti na vprašanje, koliko je bil naš blaginjski sistem v zadnjih desetletjih pri tem uspešen oziroma koliko se socialne neenakosti pri nas še vedno odražajo tudi skozi neenakostih v zdravju. Metode: Študija temelji na šestih anketnih meritvah raziskave Slovensko javno mnenje, ki so bile izvedene v obdobju 1981 in 2011 na reprezentativnih vzorcih odraslega prebivalstva Slovenije. Poglavitna odvisna spremenljivka je anketirančeva samoocena zdravja, poglavitna neodvisna pa socialno-ekonomski položaj. Zvezo med njima smo ugotavljali hi-kvadrat testom statistične značilnosti in z regresijsko analizo. Rezultati: Analiza trendov za 30-letno obdobje jasno pokaže vztrajajoče neenakosti v zdravju, saj je samoocena zdravja v nižjih izobrazbenih in dohodkovnih skupinah v celotnem obdobju značilno nižja. Največje razlike med sloji opazimo v starostnem obdobju od 30. do 60. leta, torej med največjo izpostavljenostjo stresom, povezanim s trgom dela. Zaključek: Rezultati te in številnih drugih študij kažejo, da vztrajajoče neenakosti v zdravju predstavljajo težko odpravljiv problem, saj so njihov dejanski izvor neenakosti v družbi kot celoti. Dodatni dejavnik zmanjševanja subjektivnega zdravja v Sloveniji v primerjavi z zahodno Evropo je nizka stopnja zaupanja v soljudi in družbene ustanove, ki je verjetni vzrok, da se statistično sorazmerno ugodna slika neenakosti ne prevede v enako ugodno sliko subjektivnega zdravja.
Descriptors		PUBLIC OPINION HEALTH