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International Journal for Equity in Health
Published in: International Journal for Equity in Health 1/2018

Open Access 01-12-2018 | Research

Health status and air pollution related socioeconomic concerns in urban China

Authors: Kaishan Jiao, Mengjia Xu, Meng Liu

Published in: International Journal for Equity in Health | Issue 1/2018

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Abstract

Background

China is experiencing environmental issues and related health effects due to its industrialization and urbanization. The health effects associated with air pollution are not just a matter of epidemiology and environmental science research, but also an important social science issue. Literature about the relationship of socioeconomic factors with the environment and health factors is inadequate. The relationship between air pollution exposure and health effects in China was investigated with consideration of the socioeconomic factors.

Methods

Based on nationwide survey data of China in 2014, we applied the multilevel mixed-effects model to evaluate how socioeconomic status (represented by education and income) contributed to the relationship between self-rated air pollution and self-rated health status at community level and individual level.

Results

The findings indicated that there was a non-linear relationship between the community socioeconomic status and community air pollution in urban China, with the highest level of air pollution presented in the communities with moderate socioeconomic status. In addition, health effects associated air pollution in different socioeconomic status groups were not equal. Self-rated air pollution had the greatest impact on self-rated health of the lower socioeconomic groups. With the increase of socioeconomic status, the effect of self-rated air pollution on self-rated health decreased.

Conclusions

This study verified the different levels of exposure to air pollution and inequality in health effects among different socioeconomic groups in China. It is imperative for the government to urgently formulate public policies to enhance the ability of the lower socioeconomic groups to circumvent air pollution and reduce the health damage caused by air pollution.
Footnotes
1
According to the Report on the State of the Environment in 2015 released by the Ministry of Environmental Protection of China, among the 338 prefecture-level cities in China only 73 (21.6%) cities had qualified air quality and 265 (78.4%) cities failed the air quality test.
 
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Metadata
Title
Health status and air pollution related socioeconomic concerns in urban China
Authors
Kaishan Jiao
Mengjia Xu
Meng Liu
Publication date
01-12-2018
Publisher
BioMed Central
Published in
International Journal for Equity in Health / Issue 1/2018
Electronic ISSN: 1475-9276
DOI
https://doi.org/10.1186/s12939-018-0719-y

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