Purpose: The purpose of this study was to explore ways to define the concept of health inequality. Methods: The concept analysis process byWalkerandAvantwasusedto clarifythemeaningof healthinequality. Results:Defining attributes of health inequality included differences in health status between individuals or groups, infringement of fundamental rights to health, unfair use of medical services, and social discrimination. The antecedents of health inequalityincluded differences indemographic characteristics (age, gender, education, occupation, residential loca- tion), limitations in accessibility to health care, and social exclusion. Consequences of health inequality were in- creasedcostsformedicalcare, decreasedhealth-relatedqualityof life,andlackof abilitytocopewithhealthproblems resultingincrisissituations, increases inmorbidityandmortality, andshorteningof lifespan.The concept wasclarified throughpresentationof model, borderline, related, andcontrarycases. Conclusion:Resultsof thisstudycanbeused toguide thedirectionof futurestudies throughconcept analysis inwhichconceptual attributes inthecontext of health inequalityareexamined. Also,based ontheresult of thisstudy, development of standardizedtoolstomeasurehealth inequality is recommended as well as development of educational programs to reduce health inequalities.
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Kwon et al. (2015) studied this question.