SynthesisThe Milbank quarterly2004
Is income inequality a determinant of population health? Part 1. A systematic review.
Synthesis in The Milbank quarterly, 2004. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. It is linked to trial NCT04107506 (RCT of FIND Video Coaching Intervention for Caregivers Facing Economic Adversity), which is not on this map. Cited by 221 papers, 8 of them syntheses that pooled it.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
RCT of FIND Video Coaching Intervention for Caregivers Facing Economic Adversity
Who cites it
221 citing papers in PubMed, 8 syntheses or guidelines pooled it.
- The impact of income support interventions on children's long-term health trajectories: a systematic review.BMC public health · 2025Pooled it
- Causal Assessment of Income Inequality on Self-Rated Health and All-Cause Mortality: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis.The Milbank quarterly · 2024Pooled it
- The association between income inequality and adult mental health at the subnational level-a systematic review.Social psychiatry and psychiatric epidemiology · 2022Pooled it
- Physical Activity Promotes Health and Reduces Cardiovascular Mortality in Depressed Populations: A Literature Overview.International journal of environmental research and public health · 2020Pooled it
- Impact of Political Economy on Population Health: A Systematic Review of Reviews.American journal of public health · 2019Pooled it
- Socioeconomic disparities and health: impacts and pathways.Journal of epidemiology · 2012Pooled it
- Income inequality, mortality, and self rated health: meta-analysis of multilevel studies.BMJ (Clinical research ed.) · 2009Pooled it
- Socioeconomic and racial/ethnic differentials of C-reactive protein levels: a systematic review of population-based studies.BMC public health · 2007Pooled it
- The association of neighborhood socioeconomic characteristics with cardiovascular health: A quasi-experimental study of refugees to Denmark.Health & place · 2023Trial
- Trial
- IGEMS: The Consortium on Interplay of Genes and Environment Across Multiple Studies - An Update.Twin research and human genetics : the official journal of the International Society for Twin Studies · 2019Trial
- Internet use, browsing, and the urban poor: implications for cancer control.Journal of the National Cancer Institute. Monographs · 2013Trial
- Racial Climate on Willingness to Participate in Clinical Research.Journal of racial and ethnic health disparities · 2026Article
- Income-Based Inequalities in Health System Performance in the US and South Korea.JAMA health forum · 2026Article
- Area socioeconomic inequality and suicide mortality: contrasting common measures using National Violent Death Reporting System and linked administrative data.American journal of epidemiology · 2025Article
- Income inequality and life expectancy in Canada: New evidence from province-level panel regression, 1996-2019.Canadian journal of public health = Revue canadienne de sante publique · 2025Article
- Impact of Adverse Socioeconomic Conditions on Physical and Oral Health Limitations Among American Older Adults.Cureus · 2025Article
- Health Care Affordability Problems by Income Level and Subsidy Eligibility in Medicare.JAMA network open · 2025Article
- Measuring Health Inequalities Using the Robin Hood Index: A Systematic Review with Meta-Analysis.Epidemiologia (Basel, Switzerland) · 2025Review
- Association of federal poverty level with healthcare expenditures among opioids users in the United States (2008-2019): a serial cross-sectional study.International journal for equity in health · 2025Article
161 more citing papers are in PubMed but not listed here.
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
7 authors.
Funding
Abstract
This article reviews 98 aggregate and multilevel studies examining the associations between income inequality and health. Overall, there seems to be little support for the idea that income inequality is a major, generalizable determinant of population health differences within or between rich countries. Income inequality may, however, directly influence some health outcomes, such as homicide in some contexts. The strongest evidence for direct health effects is among states in the United States, but even that is somewhat mixed. Despite little support for a direct effect of income inequality on health per se, reducing income inequality by raising the incomes of the most disadvantaged will improve their health, help reduce health inequalities, and generally improve population health.
Indexed as
Identifiers
What OpenQuestion holds
Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.