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BMC Public Health
Published in: BMC Public Health 1/2012

Open Access 01-12-2012 | Commentary

Socioeconomic inequalities in health: individual or area level; does it matter?

Author: B Galobardes

Published in: BMC Public Health | Issue 1/2012

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Abstract

In the last decades we have accumulated substantial knowledge about the risk factors that lead to cardiovascular disease. Despite this progress, in this issue of BMC Public Health we learn that little improvement has been made towards reducing inequalities in these risk factors in the UK. Characterizing changes over time can help understanding the mechanisms that underpin health inequalities. These pathways are complex and operate at different levels, from the individual to the context where someone lives. In this commentary I highlight some of the issues and uncertainties that may arise when individual and area level measures are used indistinctively.
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Metadata
Title
Socioeconomic inequalities in health: individual or area level; does it matter?
Author
B Galobardes
Publication date
01-12-2012
Publisher
BioMed Central
Published in
BMC Public Health / Issue 1/2012
Electronic ISSN: 1471-2458
DOI
https://doi.org/10.1186/1471-2458-12-171

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