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Does gender moderate the association between socioeconomic status and health? Results from an observational study in persons with spinal cord injury living in Morocco

Frontiers in Rehabilitation Sciences, 2023 · DOI: 10.3389/fresc.2023.1108214 · Published: April 4, 2023

DisabilityPublic Health

Simple Explanation

This study examines how socioeconomic status (SES) affects the health of people with spinal cord injuries (SCI) in Morocco, a low-resource country. It considers factors like education, income, financial hardship, and subjective social status. The research also investigates whether gender plays a role in how SES impacts health. The study aims to understand if women and men with SCI experience the effects of SES on their health differently. The findings suggest that subjective feelings about one's financial situation and social standing are more strongly linked to health outcomes than objective measures like education or income. Gender did not significantly change the relationship between SES and health.

Study Duration
June 2017 and December 2018
Participants
385 participants with spinal cord injury living in Morocco
Evidence Level
Not specified

Key Findings

  • 1
    Financial hardship and lower subjective social status were associated with poorer health outcomes in four out of five indicators in the total sample.
  • 2
    Education and income were inconsistently associated with health.
  • 3
    Gender did not moderate the association between SES and health, except that educational inequalities in general health were more pronounced in women.

Research Summary

This study revealed that subjective indicators of SES negatively impact on health, whereas evidence for the moderating role of gender in this association was weak. The inconsistent results of the SES indicators for the association with health raise concerns about which SES indicators are crucial for explaining socioeconomic differences in health among persons with physical disabilities. Given the importance of subjective measures of SES on health, the results of this study provide evidence that the proximal social context and the lived experience of relative deprivation account most for health inequalities in this setting.

Practical Implications

Reduce Social Marginalization

Efforts should focus on reducing social marginalization of people with disabilities in low-resource countries.

Alleviate Poverty

Poverty reduction programs are crucial to address the economic disadvantages faced by individuals with disabilities.

Address Subjective SES

Interventions should consider subjective measures of socioeconomic status, such as financial hardship and perceived social standing, as they significantly impact health.

Study Limitations

  • 1
    Cross-sectional nature of data precludes the determination of causality
  • 2
    Generalizability of results to the total population of individuals with SCI in Morocco might be limited due to sampling bias
  • 3
    Absence of statistical significance at the traditional level of p < 0.05 for analysis stratified for gender might be due to low sample size

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