Socioeconomic and territorial inequalities in health: findings for Italian elderly, Working Papers - Dipartimento di Statistica "G. Parenti", Università di Firenze.

WORKING PAPER - DIPARTIMENTO STATISTICO 2010/05 Abstract Italy displays several territorial differences: as it is well-known, the South shows less favourable conditions than the North, with respect to economic, social, and environmental aspects and also in the field of health. The aim of our analysis is twofold. Our interest is, first, on the socioeconomic differences associated with inequalities in self-rated health of elderly people in Italy, once demographic variables and actual health status are controlled for. In particular, we intend to verify also the role of social network in the self-perception of health of older people, a component usually not considered in the literature. Secondly, bearing in mind that in Italy the competences on health care are delegated to a sub-national level, we shall explore the presence of a contextual effect among Italian areas, net of individual characteristics. Furthermore, we will address the following question: is the regional breakdown sufficient in order to examine and explain differences in health performances, or we do need a more detailed territorial level of analysis?