Abstract:
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Using data from the National Health Interview Survey, we demonstrate the construction of overall, multidimensional health disparities indices that aggregate disparities among adults aged 45-64 in four selected core measures of health--healthy behaviors, access to medical care, general physical and mental health status, and absence of multiple chronic conditions--across five population attributes--sex, race and Hispanic origin, educational attainment, urbanicity of county of residence, and disability status. As a corollary, the 20 most populous states in the United States are ranked by their scores on the health disparities indices constructed. The dependence of such rankings on survey sampling variability as well as measurement assumptions and choices is discussed.
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