Household income and maternal education in early childhood and activity-limiting chronic health conditions in late childhood: findings from birth cohort studies from six countries
Year: 2022
Type: article
Abstract: BACKGROUND: We examined absolute and relative relationships between household income and maternal education during early childhood (<5 years) with activity-limiting chronic health conditions (ALCHC) during later childhood in six longitudinal, prospective cohorts from high-income countries (UK, Australia, Canada, Sweden, Netherlands, USA). METHODS: Relative inequality (risk ratios, RR) and absolute inequality (Slope Index of Inequality) were estimated for ALCHC during later childhood by maternal education categories and household income quintiles in early childhood. Estimates were adjusted for mother ethnicity, maternal age at birth, child sex and multiple births, and were pooled using meta-regression. RESULTS: Pooled estimates, with over 42 000 children, demonstrated social gradients in ALCHC for high maternal education versus low (RR 1.54, 95% CI 1.28 to 1.85) and middle education (RR 1.24, 95% CI 1.11 to 1.38); as well as for high household income versus lowest (RR 1.90, 95% CI 1.66 to 2.18) and middle quintiles (RR 1.34, 95% CI 1.17 to 1.54). Absolute inequality showed decreasing ALCHC in all cohorts from low to high education (range: -2.85% Sweden, -13.36% Canada) and income (range: -1.8% Sweden, -19.35% Netherlands). CONCLUSION: We found graded relative risk of ALCHC during later childhood by maternal education and household income during early childhood in all cohorts. Absolute differences in ALCHC were consistently observed between the highest and lowest maternal education and household income levels across cohort populations. Our results support a potential role for generous, universal financial and childcare policies for families during early childhood in reducing the prevalence of activity limiting chronic conditions in later childhood.
Language: English
Subfield: Health
Field: Social Sciences
Domain: Social Sciences
Open Access status: green
Funders: Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation United Kingdom, Australian Institute of Family Studies, Ministère de la Santé et des Services sociaux, Office for National Statistics, University of Warwick, Department of Social Services, Australian Government, University of New South Wales, University of Melbourne, ZonMw, Erasmus Universiteit Rotterdam, Forskningsrådet för Arbetsliv och Socialvetenskap, Concordia University, Ministerie van Volksgezondheid, Welzijn en Sport, Nederlandse Organisatie voor Wetenschappelijk Onderzoek, Linköpings Universitet, Karolinska Institutet, Ministère de la Santé, Université de Montréal, Forskningsrådet om Hälsa, Arbetsliv och Välfärd, Western Sydney University, Canadian Institutes of Health Research, Economic and Social Research Council, U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics
OpenAlex ID: W4286490889