Dr. Surya B. ParajuliMBBS(KU), MD(BPKIHS), MARD(TU),

Principles and practice of Epidemiology course (Christian medical college, Vellore)

Health Advocate, Dengue researcher, Snake bite Instructor

111/19/2015

Topic: Socio Economic Status of the family,

its importance of Health and Diseases

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Teaching Learning Method: Lecture

ContentBackground

Definition

Determinants of Health

Types of SES

Modification of Kuppuswamy’s Socioeconomic Status Scale

Modified BG Prasad scale

References/Acknowledgement

Student Questions

References

Background

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Definition• Socioeconomic status (SES) is an

economic and sociological combined

total measure of a person's work

experience and of an individual's or

family's economic and social position

in relation to others, based on income,

education, and occupation.

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Determinants of health

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• Socioeconomic status (SES) acts as a composite of the economic status of a

family or individuals on the basis of occupation, educational attainment, and

income.

• Wealth and power are related factors that help determine a person’s SES.

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Five Determinants of Socioeconomic

Status

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Income

Wealth

OccupationEducation

Power

Income

• Income is the total amount of money that

one earns in wages or salary in a year.

• Income sets limits on the general lifestyle of

a family and controls their consumption

patterns.

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Occupation

• Occupation generally determines income.

• White-collar workers are those that do officework and typically supervise others.

• Blue-collar workers are those that typically domanual labor and work under the supervisionof others.

• One’s occupation is generally an indication ofone’s education and degree of authority andresponsibility over others.

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Education

• Education is viewed as a way to enhance SES.

• Higher family SES means a greater likelihood

of entering and completing college.

• Educational credentials are more likely to be

achieved as a result of family background

rather than other factors.

• SES has a substantial influence on the amount

and type of schooling students receive and the

type of job they will obtain.

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Power

• People at the upper SES levels exert morepower than those at any other level.

• Persons with higher incomes are more likely toparticipate in national and local politics.

• Power relationships also exist betweenteachers and students, as curriculum iscontrolled by teachers, school boards, andnational standards.

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Wealth

• The net worth of a family includes savingsaccounts, insurance, corporate stockownership, and property.

• Forty percent of all families have zero ornegative net worth.

• Wealth provides comfort, security, and oftenpower or access to power.

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Several methods or scales have been

proposed for classifying different

populations by socioeconomic status:

Rahudkar scale 1960,

Udai Parikh scale 1964, (rural area)

Jalota Scale 1970,

Kulshrestha scale 1972,

Kuppuswamy scale 1976,

Shrivastava scale 1978,

Bharadwaj scale 2001

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Modification of Kuppuswamy’s

Socioeconomic Status Scale in

context to Nepal

• The most widely accepted scale for urban

populations has been proposed by

Kuppuswamy in India in 1976

• Used in urban area may be semi-urban

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Modified BG Prasad scale

• Commonly used scale to measure thesocioeconomic status of families.

• The advantages of using this scale are: It isapplicable to both urban and rural areasand, therefore, uniformity is maintained,and it can be used to compare across theseregions.

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• On the other hand, its most important

disadvantage is that it takes into account

only the income and, therefore, may miss out

on the other factors affecting the social status

of the individual.

• Nevertheless, it remains one of the most

widely used scales to determine the

socioeconomic status in health studies due to

the ease of application.

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References/Acknowledgement

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Student Questions

Sir,…………………………..………….

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11/19/2015 24www.drsathi.blogspot.com