Illness, Illness Behavior and Socioeconomic Status.

A sample of disability-benefits applicants are used to explore the relationship between socioeconomic status and illness. Two possibilities are pursued: (1) that illness level varies by status and (2) that subjective responses about illness vary by status. No substantial linear association was obtained in either case. There was, however, a slight positive association between socioeconomic status and indicators of both self-perceived functional and self-perceived social limitations. Only the latter was relatively undisturbed when the actual level of limitations was controlled. These data do not reveal a pronounced influence of status on either illness levels or illness behavior. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]