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Socio-economic-related health inequality in non-communicable diseases among older people in Viet Nam

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  16 January 2020

Duc Dung Le Open the ORCID record for Duc Dung Le [Opens in a new window] ,
Roberto Leon-Gonzalez ,
Thanh Long Giang  and
Anh Tuyet Nguyen
Duc Dung Le*
Affiliation:
National Graduate Institute for Policy Studies, Tokyo, Japan Institute of Social and Medical Studies, Vietnam
Roberto Leon-Gonzalez
Affiliation:
National Graduate Institute for Policy Studies, Tokyo, Japan
Thanh Long Giang
Affiliation:
Institute of Public Policy and Management, National Economics University, Vietnam
Anh Tuyet Nguyen
Affiliation:
Institute of Public Policy and Management, National Economics University, Vietnam Osaka School of International Public Policy, Osaka University, Japan
*
*Corresponding author. Email: doc17101@grips.ac.jp
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Abstract

This study contributes to a growing literature body of studies aimed at explaining socio-economic-related health inequality in non-communicable diseases (NCDs), with a focus on older people who are commonly affected by socio-economic gradient in later life. It identifies factors associated with self-reported NCDs and examines socio-economic-related health inequality in self-reported NCDs between rural and urban Vietnamese older people. This cross-sectional study utilised data from the Viet Nam Ageing Survey. A sample of 2,682 older people aged 60 and over (urban = 703, rural = 1,979) was analysed. Concentration indices were computed to measure socio-economic inequalities in self-reported NCDs. Concentration index decomposition analysis was performed to determine the relative contributions of the determinants to explaining those inequalities. Significant socio-economic inequalities in self-reported NCDs favouring the rich were found, in which the degree of inequality was more pronounced in urban areas than in their rural counterparts. Household wealth and social health insurance were the main drivers contributing to increased socio-economic inequalities in self-reported NCDs in urban and rural areas, respectively. Among disadvantaged groups, older people living alone, with lowest wealth and with social health insurance had highest probability of reporting at least one NCD for both areas. Public policies aimed at narrowing wealth gaps and expanding and improving principle roles of social health insurance should prioritise the most disadvantaged groups in order to achieve health equality.

Keywords

ageingconcentration indexdecomposition analysisdeveloping countriesnon-communicable diseasesViet Nam
Type
Article
Information
Ageing & Society , Volume 41 , Special Issue 6: New Frontiers in International Retirement Migration , June 2021 , pp. 1421 - 1448
Copyright
Copyright © The Author(s), 2020. Published by Cambridge University Press

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