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 While plenty of previous research has documented health problems
associated with poverty, the current study looked beyond just income
to focus on a wide variety of financial resources that adults in the
U.S. and UK may accumulate by middle age and beyond.
“Interestingly, the link between wealth and health outcomes was seen
in both the U.S. and England, which are two countries with very
different health and social safety net systems,” said study leader
Dr. Lena Makaroun of the VA Puget Sound Health Care System and the
University of Washington in Seattle.
“We also saw the same pattern for older adults both above and below
age 65, at which age Medicare becomes available in the U.S. and
around which age retirement benefits kick in in both countries,”
Makaroun said by email.
The similarities suggest that for low-wealth individuals, health
care or financial benefits alone may not be enough to improve their
health trajectory, she added.
For 10 years, the researchers tracked nearly 20,000 participants in
the U.S. and England from nationally representative groups of older
adults. They looked at two different age groups - 54 to 64 and 66 to
76 - because Medicare and Social Security benefits in the U.S. and
the State Pension in England typically begin around age 65.
The connection between wealth and health was clear even among the
younger people in the study, researchers report in JAMA Internal
Medicine.
In the U.S., people aged 54 to 64 in the lowest of five levels of
wealth, with assets of no more than $39,000, had 17 percent risk of
death and 48 percent risk of disability over 10 years.
By contrast, the wealthiest of the five groups, with more than
$560,000, had a death risk of 5 percent and a disability risk of 15
percent.
Disability was defined as any difficulty in performing activities of
daily living, such as dressing, eating and bathing.
In the U.K., people aged 54 to 64 in the lowest wealth group, with
no more than 34,000 euros, had a 16 percent death risk and a 42
percent disability risk over 10 years. The wealthiest group, with
more than 310,550 euros, had a death risk of 4 percent and a
disability risk of 17 percent.
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For the adults aged 66 to 76, the absolute risk of death and
disability was higher, but the differences across levels of wealth
were similar, the study found.
One limitation of the study is the differences between financial and
health circumstances for adults in the U.S. and the U.K., the
authors note. Another shortcoming is the lack of disability data for
some people included in the disability analysis.
In some instances, people may also receive retirement benefits in
either country, or government health benefits in the U.S., before
age 65, the researchers also point out.
Even so, the findings add to a large and growing body of evidence
linking wealth to health outcomes, said Dr. Martin McKee, author of
an accompanying editorial and a public health researcher at the
London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine.
“It highlights how the health system is only one input into health,
something we have known for many years,” McKee said by email.
“We do know that greater wealth and income gives you the resources
to make healthy choices in diet, leisure, etc.,” McKee added.
“Moreover, having greater wealth is like having an insurance policy
against things going badly wrong, giving you a more positive outlook
on the future.”
SOURCE: http://bit.ly/2lb7iVF JAMA Internal Medicine, online October
23, 2017.
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