Economic Development and the Spread of Diseases of Affluence in EU Regions

Agata Żółtaszek; Alicja Olejnik

doi:10.18778/0208-6018.331.02

Authors

Agata Żółtaszek University of Lodz, Faculty of Economics and Sociology, Department of Spatial Econometrics
Alicja Olejnik

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.18778/0208-6018.331.02

Keywords:

diseases of affluence, health, socioeconomic development, spatial analysis

Abstract

Diseases of affluence (diseases of the twenty‑first century, Western diseases) by definition should have higher prevalence and/or mortality rates in richer and more developed countries than in poorer, underdeveloped states. Therefore, it has been indicated that it is the civilizational progress (directly or indirectly via changes in lifestyle, diet, physical activity, stress, etc.) that stimulates epidemic outbreaks of some illnesses (cancer, diseases of respiratory and cardiovascular systems, diabetes, mental disorders). On the other hand substantial financial resources, highly qualified medical personnel, and cutting‑edge technology of richer states, should allow for effective prevention, diagnostics, and treatment of these diseases. The European Union as a whole, as well as all its member states and their regions, may be considered “highly developed” in terms of economy. Does it, however, mean that EU can be perceived as homogeneous as far as the diseases of affluence epidemiology is concerned? Are the relatively small differences in economic regional development (compered to worldwide inequalities) a significant factor in the spatial distribution of the diseases of affluence? To evaluate the possible dispersion in the epidemiology of some of the so called Western diseases and their relation to regional development, tools of spatial statistics have been incorporated. The research covers 261 EU NUTS 2 regions for the years 2003–2010. This research may provide some insight into the existence of hypothetical diseases of affluence as well as help recognize spatial patterns of prevalence and mortality rates for these illnesses.

Downloads

Download data is not yet available.

References

Anselin L. (1988), Spatial Econometrics: Methods and Models, Kluwer Academic Publications, Dordrecht.

Aue W. (2009), Człowiek w środowisku: podręcznik. Cz. 1, WSiP, Warszawa.

Beaglehole R., Bonita R., Kjellstrom T. (1993), Podstawy epidemiologii, trans. N. Szeszeni-Dąbrowska, Instytut Medycyny Pracy, Łódź.

Cliff A., Ord J.K. (1981), Spatial Processes: Models and Applications, Pion, London.

Eurostat Glossary: Standardised death rate, http://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/statistics‑explained/index.php/Glossary:Standardised_death_rate_(SDR) [accessed: 25.06.2016].

Eurostat: Products manuals and guidelines, http://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/en/web/products‑manuals‑and‑guidelines/‑/KS‑RA–13–028 [accessed: 25.06.2016].

Kotarski H. (2013), Kapitał ludzki i kapitał społeczny a rozwój województwa podkarpackiego, Wydawnictwo Uniwersytetu Rzeszowskiego, Rzeszów.

Link K. (2007), Understanding New, Resurgent, and Resistant Diseases: How Man and Globalization Create and Spread Illness, Greenwood Publishing Group, Westport.

Moran P. (1950), Notes on Continuous Stochastic Phenomena, “Biometrika”, no. 37, pp. 17–23.

Porta M. (2008), A Dictionary of Epidemiology, Oxford University Press, Oxford.

Report of Eurostat’s task force: Revision of the European Standard Population 2013, http://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/documents/3859598/5926869/KS‑RA–13–028‑EN.PDF/e713fa79–1add–44e8‑b23d–5e8fa09b3f8f [accessed: 25.06.2016].

Schneider D., Lilienfeld D.E. (2011), Public Health: The Development of a Discipline, Twentieth-Century Challenges, Rutgers University Press, London.

Suchecki B. (ed.) (2010), Ekonometria przestrzenna, Wydawnictwo C.H. Beck, Warszawa.

Winkleby M.A., Jatulis D.E., Frank E., Fortmann S.P. (1992), Socioeconomic status and health: how education, income, and occupation contribute to risk factors for cardiovascular disease, “American Journal of Public Health”, vol. 82, no. 6, pp. 816–820.

WHO Report: A Global Brief on Hypertension: Silent Killer, Global Public Health Crisis (2013), http://chronicconditions.thehealthwell.info/search‑results/global‑brief‑hypertension‑silent‑killer‑global‑public‑health‑crisis [accessed: 5.02.2017].

WHO Report: ATLAS on Substance Use (2010), Chapter 1. Psychoactive substance use: epidemiology and burden of disease, http://www.who.int/substance_abuse/publications/treatment/en/ [accessed: 25.06.2016].

WHO Report: Global Report on Urban Health (2016), http://www.who.int/kobe_centre/publications/urban‑global‑report/en/ [accessed: 25.06.2016].

WHO Report: Global status report on noncommunicable diseases 2010 (2011), http://www.who.int/nmh/publications/ncd_report2010/en/ [accessed: 25.06.2016].