Changing to the 2000 standard million: are declining racial/ethnic and socioeconomic inequalities in health real progress or statistical illusion?

OBJECTIVES This study determined the effects of changing from the 1940 to the 2000 standard million on monitoring socioeconomic and racial/ethnic inequalities in health. METHODS Using the 1940, 1970, and 2000 standard million, we calculated and compared age-adjusted rates for selected health outcomes stratified by socioeconomic level. RESULTS Changing from the 1940 to the 2000 standard million markedly reduced the age-adjusted relative risks for self-reported fair or poor health status of poor Americans compared with high-income Americans. CONCLUSIONS Public health researchers and practitioners should give serious consideration to the implications of the change to the 2000 standard million for monitoring social inequalities in health.

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