IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/sae/sagope/v12y2022i1p21582440221082123.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Health Inequities Exist in Europe: Are Spatial Health Inequities Present in the Small State of Malta?

Author

Listed:
  • Sarah Cuschieri
  • Neville Calleja
  • Julian Mamo

Abstract

Targeting and reducing health inequities is a requisite for public health. The Maltese Islands are divided into six geographical districts with a total area of 316 km 2 . It is anticipated that the close geographical proximity and social integration would result in similar population health status. This study aims to identify whether geographical health inequities exist despite the small country area. A cross-sectional health examination survey was conducted. Participants with type 2 diabetes (T2DM) and impaired fasting blood glucose (IFG) were identified, depending on their medical and drug history and fasting blood glucose levels. Those with body mass index ≥30 kg/m 2 were labeled as obese. Different health status was compared between the residents in the different districts according to demographic, socioeconomic, lifestyle, and medical history. Regression analysis was carried out to identify links between the different districts, BMI, IFG, and T2DM diagnosis, while adjusting for confounders. Geographical inequities were evident despite the close proximity. The Gozo district exhibited distinctive metabolic inequities compared to the other districts. An independent relationship was present between IFG diagnosis and residence in Gozo and Northern districts. Obesity was linked to residing in Gozo. Health inequities were evident between the close districts of the Maltese Islands despite similar socioeconomic, lifestyle, and healthcare provision. Psychosocial factors might be the underlying causes for these inequities. Public health officials and government should work to enhance public education and set up local policies and interventions to target these inequities.

Suggested Citation

  • Sarah Cuschieri & Neville Calleja & Julian Mamo, 2022. "Health Inequities Exist in Europe: Are Spatial Health Inequities Present in the Small State of Malta?," SAGE Open, , vol. 12(1), pages 21582440221, February.
    • Handle: RePEc:sae:sagope:v:12:y:2022:i:1:p:21582440221082123
    DOI: 10.1177/21582440221082123
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/21582440221082123
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1177/21582440221082123?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Kanbur, Ravi & Venables, Anthony J. (ed.), 2005. "Spatial Inequality and Development," OUP Catalogue, Oxford University Press, number 9780199278633.
    2. Johan P. Mackenbach & José Rubio Valverde & Barbara Artnik & Matthias Bopp & Henrik Brønnum-Hansen & Patrick Deboosere & Ramune Kalediene & Katalin Kovács & Mall Leinsalu & Pekka Martikainen & Gwenn M, 2018. "Trends in health inequalities in 27 European countries," Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, vol. 115(25), pages 6440-6445, June.
    3. Ravi Kanbur & Anthony J. Venables & Guanghua Wan, 2005. "Introduction to the Special Issue: Spatial Inequality and Development in Asia," Review of Development Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 9(1), pages 1-4, February.
    4. Philip McCann, 2020. "Perceptions of regional inequality and the geography of discontent: insights from the UK," Regional Studies, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 54(2), pages 256-267, February.
    5. Satariano, Bernadine, 2019. "Diverse socioeconomic processes influencing health and wellbeing across generations in deprived neighbourhoods in Malta," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 232(C), pages 453-459.
    6. Ravi Kanbur & Tony Venables, 2005. "Introduction: Spatial inequality and development," Journal of Economic Geography, Oxford University Press, vol. 5(1), pages 1-2, January.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Evgeny M. Bukhvald, 2020. "Managing the spatial development of the Russian economy: Goals and tools," Upravlenets, Ural State University of Economics, vol. 11(6), pages 2-14, December.
    2. Faguet, Jean-Paul & Shami, Mahvish, 2008. "Fiscal policy and spatial inequality in Latin America and beyond," LSE Research Online Documents on Economics 27162, London School of Economics and Political Science, LSE Library.
    3. Batuo E. Michael & George Kararach & Issam Malki, 2021. "Working Paper 353 - Inequality and the role of macroeconomic and institutional forces in Africa," Working Paper Series 2479, African Development Bank.
    4. Lessmann, Christian, 2014. "Spatial inequality and development — Is there an inverted-U relationship?," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 106(C), pages 35-51.
    5. Dao-Zhi Zeng, 2016. "Capital mobility and spatial inequalities in income and industrial location," The Journal of Economic Inequality, Springer;Society for the Study of Economic Inequality, vol. 14(1), pages 109-128, March.
    6. Anda David & Nathalie Guilbert & Nobuaki Hamaguchi & Yudai Higashi & Hiroyuki Hino & Murray Leibbrandt & Muna Shifa, 2018. "Spatial poverty and inequality in South Africa: A municipality level analysis," SALDRU Working Papers 221, Southern Africa Labour and Development Research Unit, University of Cape Town.
    7. Shifa, Muna & Leibbrandt, Murray, 2021. "Spatial Inequality in Sub-Saharan Africa," EconStor Preprints 244591, ZBW - Leibniz Information Centre for Economics.
    8. Christian Lessmann, 2012. "Regional Inequality and Decentralization: An Empirical Analysis," Environment and Planning A, , vol. 44(6), pages 1363-1388, June.
    9. Julio Martinez-Galarraga & Elisenda Paluzie & Jordi Pons & Javier Silvestre & Daniel A. Tirado, 2021. "New economic geography and economic history: a survey of recent contributions through the lens of the Spanish industrialization process," Cliometrica, Springer;Cliometric Society (Association Francaise de Cliométrie), vol. 15(3), pages 719-751, September.
    10. Holley E. Hansen & Stephen C. Nemeth & Jacob A. Mauslein, 2020. "Ethnic political exclusion and terrorism: Analyzing the local conditions for violence," Conflict Management and Peace Science, Peace Science Society (International), vol. 37(3), pages 280-300, May.
    11. Parikshit K. Basu, 2007. "Critical evaluation of growth strategies: India and China," International Journal of Social Economics, Emerald Group Publishing Limited, vol. 34(9), pages 664-677, August.
    12. Stephanié Rossouw & Wim Naudé, 2008. "The Non-Economic Quality of Life on a Sub-National Level in South Africa," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 86(3), pages 433-452, May.
    13. Sunderlin, William D. & Dewi, Sonya & Puntodewo, Atie & Müller, Daniel & Angelsen, Arild & Epprecht, Michael, 2008. "Why forests are important for global poverty alleviation: A spatial explanation," EconStor Open Access Articles and Book Chapters, ZBW - Leibniz Information Centre for Economics, vol. 13(2).
    14. Güneş Aşık & Ulaş Karakoç & Şevket Pamuk, 2023. "Regional inequalities and the West–East divide in Turkey since 1913," Economic History Review, Economic History Society, vol. 76(4), pages 1305-1332, November.
    15. World Bank, 2004. "Sri Lanka - Reshaping Economic Geography : Connecting People to Prosperity," World Bank Publications - Books, The World Bank Group, number 21549, December.
    16. Roberto Ezcurra & Andrés Rodríguez-Pose, 2017. "Does ethnic segregation matter for spatial inequality?," Journal of Economic Geography, Oxford University Press, vol. 17(6), pages 1149-1178.
    17. Hamidreza Rabiei‐Dastjerdi & Stephen A. Matthews, 2021. "Who gets what, where, and how much? Composite index of spatial inequality for small areas in Tehran," Regional Science Policy & Practice, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 13(1), pages 191-205, February.
    18. Marianne Matthee & Wim Naudé, 2008. "The Determinants of Regional Manufactured Exports from a Developing Country," International Regional Science Review, , vol. 31(4), pages 343-358, October.
    19. Lessmann, Christian & Seidel, André, 2017. "Regional inequality, convergence, and its determinants – A view from outer space," European Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 92(C), pages 110-132.
    20. Rey, Sergio, 2016. "Space-time patterns of rank concordance: Local indicators of mobility association with application to spatial income inequality dynamics," MPRA Paper 69480, University Library of Munich, Germany.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:sae:sagope:v:12:y:2022:i:1:p:21582440221082123. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: SAGE Publications (email available below). General contact details of provider: .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.