Exploring the effects of socio-economic inequalities on health and disability in Northern Irish adolescents: evidence from a nationally representative longitudinal study

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Abstract

Although a negative association between socio-economic inequalities and health has been established, there is a dearth of robust longitudinal studies examining this relationship in adolescents. This study used a large, nationally representative longitudinal data set to investigate the association between socio-economic inequality, subjective health status and disabilities among young people in Northern Ireland over a ten-year period. Data were from the Northern Ireland Longitudinal Study, a census-based record linkage study (N = 46,535). Logistic regression models were estimated in which health and disability variables from the 2011 census were predicted by household deprivation in education, housing quality, housing tenure and employment from the 2001 census. Models were adjusted for health and disability status in 2001. Deprivation in employment, housing tenure and coming from a single-parent household in 2001 independently predicted poorer subjective health and disability status ten years later [ORs = 1.28–1.93]. Deprivation in education in 2001 was also associated with increased risk of disability in 2011 [OR = 1.15; 95% CI = 1.06–1.25]. These results show that there is a need to dedicate more resources and support for economically disadvantaged children and young people in Northern Ireland, where child health outcomes are poorer than in the rest of the UK.
Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)138-148
Number of pages11
JournalLongitudinal and Life Course Studies
Volume14
Issue number1
Early online date1 May 2022
DOIs
Publication statusPublished (in print/issue) - 1 Jan 2023

Bibliographical note

Funding Information:
The help provided by the staff of the Administrative Data Research Network Northern Ireland (ADRC-NI) and the Northern Ireland Statistics and Research Agency (NISRA) Research Support Unit is acknowledged.The ADRC-NI is funded by the Economic and Research Council (ESRC).The authors alone are responsible for the interpretation of the data and any views or opinions presented are solely those of the author and do not necessarily represent those of the ADRC-NI.The NILS data has been supplied for the sole purpose of this project.

Funding Information:
This study was funded by the Economic and Social Research Council [grant number ES/S00601X/1].

Funding Information:
The help provided by the staff of the Northern Ireland Longitudinal Study (NILS) and the NILS Research Support Unit is acknowledged.The NILS is funded by the Health and Social Care Research and Development Division of the Public Health Agency (HSC R&D Division) and NISRA.The NILS-RSU is funded by the ESRC and the Northern Ireland Government.The authors alone are responsible for the interpretation of the data and any views or opinions presented are solely those of the author and do not necessarily represent those of NISRA/NILS.

Publisher Copyright:
© 2023, Bristol University Press. All rights reserved.

Keywords

  • Life-span and Life-course Studies
  • prospective data analysis
  • inequalities
  • adolescents
  • disability
  • socio-economic status
  • health

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