Associations of income with self-reported ill-health and health resources in a rural community sample of Austria

Three levels of health indicators (1) self-reported ill-health, (2) internal health resources, and (3) external health resources were analysed in relation to a four-category house-hold income distribution in order to describe possible social gradients. The particular aim of this study was to obtain information on the association of income data with self-reported ill-health. This cross-sectional study was based on a health survey. The sample represents around 10% of the rural population of some communities in Styria, randomly selected from the population registry. Interview data was collected from 3781 participants aged 15 years and older, 1559 males and 2222 females. The results show that individuals from lower house-hold income classes are disadvantaged with regard to indicators of ill-health, internal and external health resources. Overall, the link between low income and poor health is highly consistent within our data. Considering our results we conclude that internal and external health resources are as unequally distributed over income levels as health outcome indicators.