ArticleBMJ (Clinical research ed.)1996
Inequality in income and mortality in the United States: analysis of mortality and potential pathways.
Article in BMJ (Clinical research ed.), 1996. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. An erratum has been issued. Cited by 223 papers, 5 of them syntheses that pooled it.
What it found
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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.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
223 citing papers in PubMed, 5 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 1,247 citations in OpenAlex.
- The association between income inequality and adult mental health at the subnational level-a systematic review.Social psychiatry and psychiatric epidemiology · 2022Pooled it
- Work-focused interventions that promote the labour market transition of young adults with chronic disabling health conditions: a systematic review.Occupational and environmental medicine · 2019Pooled it
- Socio-economic position and subjective health and well-being among older people in Europe: a systematic narrative review.Aging & mental health · 2016Pooled it
- The social determinants of infant mortality and birth outcomes in Western developed nations: a cross-country systematic review.International journal of environmental research and public health · 2013Pooled it
- Is income inequality a determinant of population health? Part 1. A systematic review.The Milbank quarterly · 2004Pooled it
- Income rank and life satisfaction: Examining the relationship with wealth inequality among middle-aged and older indian adults.SSM - population health · 2025Article
- Economic inequality, intergenerational mobility, and life expectancy.Social science & medicine (1982) · 2025Article
- School performance and the social gradient in young adult death in Norway.Nature human behaviour · 2025Article
- Local policy governance arrangements and COVID-19-related mortality in municipalities in Japan: a cross-sectional ecological study.Frontiers in public health · 2025Article
- A novel hypothesis on the relationship between maternal education and obesity in children; the mediating role of maternal and child self-control-ABIS a population-based cohort study.Frontiers in public health · 2025Article
- Consumption, relative deprivation and mental health: evidence from hedonic consumption.Frontiers in public health · 2025Article
- Association between longest-held occupation and mortality risk.American journal of industrial medicine · 2024Article
- Opioid Prescription and Long-Term Survival Outcomes in Adults: A Nationwide Cohort Study in Korea.Journal of Korean medical science · 2024Article
- Does local income and wealth inequality affect mortality? A register-based fixed effects study of 58 million person-years.Scandinavian journal of public health · 2024Article
- Social support receipt as a predictor of mortality: A cohort study in rural South Africa.PLOS global public health · 2024Article
- Gender equality related to gender differences in life expectancy across the globe gender equality and life expectancy.PLOS global public health · 2023Article
- Article
- Rising childhood income inequality and declining Americans' health.Social science & medicine (1982) · 2022Article
- Income inequality and the disease burden of COVID-19: Survival analysis of data from 74 countries.Preventive medicine reports · 2022Article
- Income inequality and self-rated health status in Colombia.International journal for equity in health · 2022Article
163 more citing papers are in PubMed but not listed here.
Corrections and comments
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- Erratum issued
Authors and funding
5 authors at 3 institutions in 1 country.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
objectiveTo examine the relation between health outcomes and the equality with which income is distributed in the United States.
designThe degree of income inequality, defined as the percentage of total household income received by the less well off 50% of households, and changes in income inequality were calculated for the 50 states in 1980 and 1990. These measures were then examined in relation to all cause mortality adjusted for age for each state, age specific deaths, changes in mortalities, and other health outcomes and potential pathways for 1980, 1990, and 1989-91.
main outcome measureAge adjusted mortality from all causes.
resultsThere was a significant correlation (r = -0.62 [corrected], P < 0.001) between the percentage of total household income received by the less well off 50% in each state and all cause mortality, unaffected by adjustment for state median incomes. Income inequality was also significantly associated with age specific mortalities and rates of low birth weight, homicide, violent crime, work disability, expenditures on medical care and police protection, smoking, and sedentary activity. Rates of unemployment, imprisonment, recipients of income assistance and food stamps, lack of medical insurance, and educational outcomes were also worse as income inequality increased. Income inequality was also associated with mortality trends, and there was a suggestion of an impact of inequality trends on mortality trends.
conclusionVariations between states in the inequality of the distribution of income are significantly associated with variations between states in a large number of health outcomes and social indicators and with mortality trends. These differences parallel relative investments in human and social capital. Economic policies that influence income and wealth inequality may have an important impact on the health of countries.
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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.