Health and Poverty in Brazil: Estimation by Structural Equation Model with Latent Variables

Brazil is characterized by large inequalities in income, access to health care, and health status. This paper uses data from the 1998 Pesquisa Nacional por Amostra de Domicílios to analyze the complex relationships among health, income, health insurance and health care utilization to gain a better understanding of the various factors determining differences in the health of the population, especially between the poor and non-poor. The authors use a structural equation model in which health, wealth and access to health care are specified as latent variables.