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Socioeconomic inequalities in health among elderly people in Taiwan: A life course perspective

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  • Hsiao-Hsiao Tan
  • Yi-Chan Lee
  • Ya-Mei Chen
  • Tung-liang Chiang

Abstract

Background: Individuals’ health could be well predicted through their lifetime trajectories. Those with greater socioeconomic advantages tend to exhibit better health and a slower rate of health decline as they age, and vice versa. Objective: This study aims to investigate how health trajectory in old age is shaped by the accumulation of socioeconomic status (SES) across three life stages. Method: The dataset used in this study is derived from the Taiwan Longitudinal Study on Aging (TLSA) conducted from 1989 to 2003, with 4,048 respondents aged 60 and older. A stratified analysis, utilizing Generalized Estimating Equations (GEE) models, is employed to investigate the interrelationships between SES across three life stages and the longitudinal patterns of three health outcomes. Result: Of all the participants over the five waves, participants’ health declined with aging, while the proportion of higher SES among remaining individuals tended to increase. A gradient in health improvements is observed, corresponding to the accumulation of SES, even after adjusting for demographic factors and baseline health. Moreover, improvements in a single SES indicator are significantly associated with better health when controlling for the other two indicators (all p

Suggested Citation

  • Hsiao-Hsiao Tan & Yi-Chan Lee & Ya-Mei Chen & Tung-liang Chiang, 2025. "Socioeconomic inequalities in health among elderly people in Taiwan: A life course perspective," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 20(7), pages 1-13, July.
    • Handle: RePEc:plo:pone00:0327191
    DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0327191
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Dale Dannefer, 2003. "Cumulative Advantage/Disadvantage and the Life Course: Cross-Fertilizing Age and Social Science Theory," The Journals of Gerontology: Series B, The Gerontological Society of America, vol. 58(6), pages 327-337.
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