TY - JOUR T1 - Austerity, economic hardship and access to medications: a repeated cross-sectional population survey study, 2013–2020 JF - Journal of Epidemiology and Community Health JO - J Epidemiol Community Health DO - 10.1136/jech-2022-219706 SP - jech-2022-219706 AU - Katri Aaltonen Y1 - 2023/01/24 UR - http://jech.bmj.com/content/early/2023/01/23/jech-2022-219706.abstract N2 - Background In Finland, austerity measures included an increase in medication and healthcare copayments and a decrease in many social security allowances. This study examines whether austerity coincided with an increase in socioeconomic inequality in access to medications (going short of medications because of lack of money) and whether medication access problems increased more than other forms of economic hardship (going short of food or physician visits).Methods Pooled cross-sectional population surveys collected in 2013–2015, 2018 and 2020 (n=139 324) and multinomial logistic regression, with interaction between study year and economic activity (EA) (full-time work vs part-time work/retirement; old age retirement; unemployment; disability/illness; family; student), were used to estimate the effect of EA on the probability of experiencing economic hardship (no hardship/hardship including medication problems/hardship excluding medication problems) and how it varies across years.Results Working-age adults outside full-time employment have a higher risk of economic hardship than full-time workers, and old age retirees have a lower risk. In 2018, when austerity was most pronounced, economic hardship including medication problems increased for the disabled/ill (women and men), unemployed (women) and part-time workers/retirees (men), significantly more than for full-time workers. Hardship excluding medication access problems either decreased or remained unchanged.Conclusion Austerity coincided with increasing economic hardship among vulnerable groups, thus exacerbating socioeconomic inequalities. Strengthening the role for medication access problems suggests that medication copayment increases contributed to this accumulating disadvantage.Data may be obtained from a third party and are not publicly available. The author has no permission to share data; however, data access can be applied for from the centralised data permit authority Findata (https://www.findata.fi/en/). ER -