Changing to the 2000 standard million: are declining racial/ethnic and socioeconomic inequalities in health real progress or statistical illusion?
OBJECTIVE
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.
Krieger
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Department of Health and Social Behavior, Harvard School of Public Health, 677 Huntington Ave, Boston, MA 02115, USA. nkrieger@hsph.harvard.edu
Williams
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DR
D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D017677:Age Distribution; D000368:Aged; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D003627:Data Interpretation, Statistical; D003710:Demography; D005006:Ethnicity / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D007231:Infant, Newborn; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009026:Mortality; D009309:National Center for Health Statistics, U.S.; D011157:Population Dynamics; D011203:Poverty; D011640:Public Policy; D012015:Reference Standards; D018570:Risk Assessment; D012959:Socioeconomic Factors; D014481:United States / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000208:ethnology