Statistical Analysis of Social Determinants of Health: An Exploratory Study for Global Comparison

The American healthcare system has become a whipping boy for many global health care professionals who contend that the United States spends more than any other similar countries on health care, yet the health outcomes measured by life expectancy and infant mortality rates of this country have been hovering at the bottom for industrialized nations (Bradley-Springer, 2012). Scholars and researchers in the health care and related fields have been arguing for many years that investment in the health care system alone cannot improve health outcomes (Butler, Bowen and Cabello, 2017). n the United States, another danger is that financial pressure, the decision makers in healthcare may look for a quick and short term solution (Kim and Kwon, 2015). These scholars and practitioners have developed a different hypothesis to explain health outcomes. They argue that “health” can be explained with a composite measure of medical as well as social determinants of health. Social determinants here are defined in this study as spends not directly tied to financial investment in the medical system. The implication for policy makers is that investment in the medical area alone cannot produce intended positive health outcomes. Rather, a nation’s health policy should address investment in the combined health “basket” (medical plus social agents) to achieve health goals. This study using a few industrialized countries similar to the United States in economic characteristics and political system to investigate statistically how much “social determinants” played a role in determining a nation’s health outcomes. Economic agents are also included in the model to investigate comparative contribution to nation’s health outcomes by these two sample groups. Findings show “social determinants” play a more significant role in determining the nation’s health outcomes compared to economic agents (spending in medical care). Policy implications are addressed at the end of this paper.