Economic transition and changing relation between income inequality and mortality in Taiwan: regression analysis.

OBJECTIVE To examine the changing relation between income inequality and mortality through different stages of economic development in Taiwan. DESIGN Regression analysis of mortality on income inequality for three index years: 1976, 1985, and 1995. SETTING 21 counties and cities in Taiwan. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES All age mortality and age specific mortality in children under age 5. RESULTS When median household disposable income was controlled for, the association between income inequality and mortality became stronger in 1995 than in 1976. Especially, the association between income inequality and mortality in children aged under 5, with adjustment for differences in median household disposable income, changed from non-significant in 1976 to highly significant in 1995. In 1995, the level of household income after adjustment for income distribution no longer had a bearing on mortality in children under 5. CONCLUSION The health of the population is affected more by relative income than by absolute income after a country has changed from a developing to a developed economy.