Commentary: The place in life course research of validated measures of socioeconomic position

摘要

Among the attractions of social epidemiology (or social medicine-call it what you will) is the opportunity for medicine and social science to collaborate. An inspiration in this respect is the example set in the mid-20th century by Richard Titmuss and Jerry Morris, who arguably established this sub-discipline. Collaborations such as that between Titmuss and Morris are required if we wish to explain the social patterning of health and disease in terms of processes that are plausible both socially and biologically. The work is most creative when each half of the collaboration respects and acquires elementary knowledge of the other discipline; something that often is not achieved. A contemporary example of sub-optimal collaboration is the continued use by social epidemiologists of the term 'socioeconomic status'-a thought prompted by the otherwise excellent paper by Ball and Mishra published in this issue of the International Journal of Epidemiology#