Trends and Causes of Educational Inequality in Health-Related Quality of Life in China During the COVID-19 Pandemic

IF 2.5 3区社会学 Q1 SOCIAL SCIENCES, INTERDISCIPLINARY

Applied Research in Quality of Life Pub Date : 2024-10-31 DOI:10.1007/s11482-024-10393-y

Na Li, Can Xu, Gaoming Ma, Min Yu, Hao Wang, Xiaoting Liu

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Abstract

Since the 1980s, there has been a steady increase in the inequality of health-related quality of life in China. However, there has been no reliable evaluation of recent trends, especially during the COVID-19 pandemic. To bridge the knowledge gap, we analyzed current trends in educational inequality in health-related quality of life and explored potential causes. According to the Zhejiang Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance Program (n = 55,560) and the Recentered Influence Function decomposition method, we found that although the health-related quality of life has remained relatively stable over the past two decades, health inequality has risen. Moreover, during the COVID-19 pandemic, the already existing inequality in mental health has worsened significantly. Further analysis indicated that the group with the lowest education level might contribute to the rapid increase in mental health inequality during the epidemic due to their inability to obtain a relatively stable income. Our study highlights the necessity of social policies to curb the rise of inequality in health-related quality of life.

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COVID-19大流行期间中国教育不平等与健康相关生活质量的趋势和原因

自20世纪80年代以来，中国与健康有关的生活质量的不平等一直在稳步增加。然而，对最近的趋势没有可靠的评估，特别是在COVID-19大流行期间。为了弥合知识差距，我们分析了与健康相关的生活质量教育不平等的当前趋势，并探讨了潜在的原因。根据浙江省行为风险因素监测项目（n = 55,560）和Recentered影响函数分解方法，我们发现，尽管与健康相关的生活质量在过去二十年中保持相对稳定，但健康不平等有所上升。此外，在2019冠状病毒病大流行期间，心理健康方面已经存在的不平等现象显著恶化。进一步分析表明，受教育程度最低的群体可能是疫情期间心理健康不平等现象迅速加剧的原因之一，因为他们无法获得相对稳定的收入。我们的研究强调了社会政策的必要性，以遏制与健康相关的生活质量不平等的加剧。

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来源期刊

Applied Research in Quality of Life SOCIAL SCIENCES, INTERDISCIPLINARY-

CiteScore

6.40

自引率

11.80%

发文量

期刊介绍： The aim of this journal is to publish conceptual, methodological and empirical papers dealing with quality-of-life studies in the applied areas of the natural and social sciences. As the official journal of the ISQOLS, it is designed to attract papers that have direct implications for, or impact on practical applications of research on the quality-of-life. We welcome papers crafted from interdisciplinary, inter-professional and international perspectives. This research should guide decision making in a variety of professions, industries, nonprofit, and government sectors, including healthcare, travel and tourism, marketing, corporate management, community planning, social work, public administration, and human resource management. The goal is to help decision makers apply performance measures and outcome assessment techniques based on concepts such as well-being, human satisfaction, human development, happiness, wellness and quality-of-life. The Editorial Review Board is divided into specific sections indicating the broad scope of practice covered by the journal. The section editors are distinguished scholars from many countries across the globe.