台灣新冠肺炎疫情下的家庭收入損失與兒童健康不平等

Family income loss and child health inequality during the COVID-19 pandemic in Taiwan

"目標：本研究旨在探討新冠肺炎疫情下，家庭收入損失與兒童健康的關係。方法：資料來源為台灣出生世代研究，其乃針對2005年全國出生嬰兒為母群體進行追蹤調查，本研究主要使用這些兒童15歲時，對其主要照顧者所蒐集的資料共18,042名。首先，以描述統計檢視兒童社經背景與家庭收入損失之關係。接著，利用Cochran-Armitage趨勢檢定，評估家庭收入損失與兒童健康是否呈現梯度相關。最後，以多變項邏輯斯迴歸模型，分析家庭收入損失對兒童健康的影響。結果：本研究發現：(1)社經背景較弱勢的家庭，家庭收入損失的風險較大；(2)家庭收入損失越嚴重、兒童健康越差，但此梯度關係在高收入的家庭沒有顯著；(3)控制社經背景後，家庭收入有嚴重損失（OR: 1.3, 95% CI 1.2-1.5）與輕微損失（OR: 1.2, 95% CI 1.1-1.3）的兒童，健康普通/不好的風險都顯著較沒有損失的兒童高。結論：新冠肺炎疫情下家庭收入損失與兒童健康不平等息息相關。為避免健康差距擴大，必須預防並幫助家庭收入因疫情遭受衝擊的兒童，特別是社經背景弱勢族群。（台灣衛誌 2022；41(1)：96-104）"

"Objectives: This study aimed to examine the relationship between family income loss and child health during the COVID-19 pandemic. Methods: Data for the analysis were obtained from the Taiwan Birth Cohort Study, a nationally representative sample of babies born in 2005, and 18,024 caregivers participated in the survey as their children aged 15. In analysis, we first conducted descriptive analyses to test the correlation between socioeconomic variables and family income loss. We next assessed whether there was a gradient relationship between family income loss and child health using Cochran–Armitage trend test. Finally, multiple logistic regression was used to estimate the relationship between family income loss and child health. Results: Our findings indicated that (1) lower socioeconomic families were at a greater risk of suffering income loss during COVID-19; (2) children in the families experiencing a more severe loss of income had worse health, but the gradient relationship was not significant for those in higher income families; and (3) significantly higher risk of fair/poor health of children was found in the severe (OR: 1.3, 95% CI 1.2–1.5) and mild (OR: 1.2, 95% CI 1.1–1.3) income loss groups than in the no income loss group after adjustment for socioeconomic variables. Conclusions: Family income loss due to COVID-19 was significantly associated with child health inequality. To avoid widening the health gap, children in families experiencing financial impacts during the COVID-19 pandemic should be protected and supported, particularly those in lower socioeconomic groups. (Taiwan J Public Health. 2022;41(1):96-104)"