Educational attainment and transitions in functional status among older Taiwanese

There is a lengthy history of research examining the relationship between socioeconomic status and health and mortality in Western societies (Antonovsky 1967; Fox 1989; Williams and Collins 1995). Almost unanimously, these investigations show that those with high socioeconomic status are advantaged in a number of health-related areas. For instance, lower socioeconomic status has been associated with a greater risk of experiencing both chronic conditions and mortality (Kitagawa and Hauser 1973; Rogot, Sorlie, and Johnson 1992; Winkelby, Fortman, and Barrett 1990). England's "Black Report" of 1980 suggested that despite more egalitarian health-care policies, gradations in health status still existed in that country (Townsend and Davidson 1982).