Abstract
Objective: While the education gradient in prevention of chronic conditions is well documented, contributing factors remain underexplored. The contribution of income, knowledge and management of illness, market prices, cognitive ability, ability to act, perception about the future, and psychosocial constraints to the education gradient in prevention is examined. Methods: To solve problems of unobservable factors that influence prevention and illness severity, we estimate the role of each component of the education gradient on prevention using data on diabetes and hypertension from five Latin American countries. Results: Overall, these components explain 50% to 70% of the education gradient in prevention, with income being the most important. Discussion: Cognitive ability and ability to act capture an important part of the education gradient in prevention whereas knowledge about illness explains little. Medicine individualized to patients' cognitive ability and ability to act could improve adherence to prevention protocols among patients with chronic conditions.
Original language | English (US) |
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Pages (from-to) | 1398-1424 |
Number of pages | 27 |
Journal | Journal of Aging and Health |
Volume | 25 |
Issue number | 8 |
DOIs | |
State | Published - Dec 1 2013 |
Keywords
- Latin America
- cognitive function
- diabetes
- health behaviors
- health services
ASJC Scopus subject areas
- Health(social science)
- Sociology and Political Science
- Life-span and Life-course Studies