The magnitude of differences in perceived general health associated with educational level in the regions of Spain

Study objective-To examine and compare the relation between inequalities in perceived general health and education in the 17 regions of Spain. Design and methods-Data were taken from the 1993 Spanish Health Interview S urvey. For each region we calculated the magnitude of inequality in perceiv ed general health in association with educational level by a measure of ass ociation or effect and by a relative index of inequality. Both measures are odds ratios and were estimated by logistic regression. The first is an odd s ratio associated with one year less education, while the second represent s the inequality in perceived general health between those at the bottom an d those at the top of the educational hierarchy. Main results-The six regions with the highest relative indices of inequalit y also have the highest odds ratios associated with one year less education , and five of the six regions with the lowest relative indices of inequalit y have the lowest odds ratios associated with one year less education. Pear son's correlation coefficient between the odds ratio and the relative index of inequality is 0.94. Conclusions-Regional differences in levels of inequality in perceived gener al health are attributable exclusively to the effect of education on health and not to the distribution of the population among the different educatio nal levels. It is not known why the magnitude of this effect of education o n health varies from one area to another.