riyabansal26

[riyabansal26]

Income Disparity and alcohol consumption.

1. Codebook : Gapminder

2. To study the relationship between income and alcohol consumption in different countries.

3.  To study the level of alcohol addiction and usage in different countries and is there any pattern to follow.

4. Literature review on the Codebook and data set:

My data set includes variables such as:

Income per person:  Gross domestic product adjusted for for differences in purchasing power (international dollars, fixed  2011 prices, PPP based on 2011 ICP)

Alcohol Consumption in different countries in different age group:

Recorded plus estimated alcohol consumption, average adult (15+), per capita consumption in liters. 

Introduction

In high-income countries socio-economic inequalities in health have been investigated extensively.1 These studies conclude that persons of higher socio-economic status (SES) have lower mortality and morbidity as well as more favourable health behaviours than those of lower status.2 When gender is taken into account deviations from this general pattern can be found. In some countries women of higher SES are more likely to report poor self-assessed health (Italy, Portugal, Sweden)3 as well as higher rates of smoking (France, Italy, Spain, Portugal, Lithuania)2 and risky single occasion drinking (RSOD) (Mexico, Brazil),4 whereas among men, those of lower SES are more likely to report negative outcomes.

Some studies, mainly in Europe, have compared inequalities cross-nationally.2–5 Comparative research enables the investigation of area-level effects which provides information for policy makers regarding (social) environmental factors affecting population health outcomes. The socio-economic position of a region can have an impact on a population's health beyond individual SES.6 For the most part, such studies have used aggregated individual data to describe the socioeconomic characteristics of a region, e.g. indices of relative deprivation,7 income or income inequality,8 occupation9 and education.10

With regard to social inequalities in drinking behaviour, the general pattern is that people in higher SES groups are more often drinkers and drink smaller amounts more frequently, whereas those in lower SES groups have a higher proportion of abstainers but those who do drink do so more often in problematic ways.11–13 But recent research in emerging economies shows a different pattern. A Brazilian study found that higher SES was associated with higher rates of alcohol consumption.14 Research on RSOD in Israel which examined young Jews and Arabs found two distinct patterns with respect to SES: Jews followed the pattern seen in high-income countries. Among Arabs a strong positive association was found for income and occupation and RSOD.15 A cross-sectional trend analysis in Russia from 1985 to 1995 found among men a consistent negative association between alcohol use and SES over time, but saw the inequalities closing due to increased drinking among the higher SES group.16 In an international comparison of social inequalities in drinking across 15 countries, Bloomfield et al.4 found that higher educated women and men in Brazil and higher educated women in Mexico were more likely to be RSO drinkers than their less educated counterparts. Such a pattern was not found for the remaining countries in the analysis.

It has been argued that the amount of alcohol consumed in a country is related to its economic development.17 Previous research involving 24 countries showed that the prevalence of drinkers in a country is positively correlated with economic power, even if there are some exceptions: countries with a high economic power and a relatively low prevalence of drinkers (e.g. USA) or vice versa (e.g. Argentina).18 As gender equality is seen as closely related to economic development,19,20 it is also important to consider this factor. Rahav et al.18 found that differences in drinking status across gender are lower where gender equality is higher. Furthermore, in addition to economic development, it has been shown that area income inequalities are associated with poorer health outcomes.21,22 Some literature has found mixed results with respect to drinking behaviour,23–25 thus prompting further investigation here.

The present study examines drinking behaviour in 33 countries with regard to gender and individual socio-economic position. Additionally it takes into account gender equity and the socio-economic characteristics of the study countries.

Although there is some recent research to suggest differing results among low and middle income countries, that which has been conducted in higher income countries remains the most consistent11–13 and we use it as our point of departure for the following hypotheses:

1. Higher Socio-economic status/ income is positively associated with drinking status. This association will be stronger in societies with higher economic development and will be true for both men and women.