Relationship of social stratification and health/disease

Health and disease are phenomena that concern all people directly and in this study, the relationship between social stratification and some indicators related to health/disease has been examined. Within the framework of this subject, a study was carried out with the relational screening model and quantitative data collection techniques were used. The study was carried out by reaching 730 households in 12 provinces representing the urban population of Turkey over the age of 18. Various information about the socioeconomic levels and health/diseases was obtained through the questionnaire created. The socioeconomic status of households was obtained by the TÜSES scale based on the education, income, and professional information of the households. Healthy lifestyle Behavior Scale II was used to measure healthy lifestyle behavior. Research findings are presented primarily as descriptive statistics. Afterward, a total of 648 households, whose social stratum scores could be calculated, were divided into three strata as lower-middle-upper, and the relationship between social strata and health/disease indicators was analyzed using chi-square and multiple correspondance analyzes. One-way ANOVA was used to examine the differentiation of healthy lifestyle behaviors according to social strata. As a result of the tests, it has been determined that there are relations between social strata and health/disease indicators and that positive indicators related to health/disease increase as the upper social strata generally increase. Based on this relationship between social strata and health/disease indicators, some suggestions have been made to distribute health outcomes among social strata in a more balanced manner and to improve social health.