Health in the ESR: Observations and Reflections

Abstract

This article surveys articles relating to health in the ESR, identifying and reviewing broad research themes, and offering some observations and reflections on the more than fifty contributions to date. The majority of health articles tend to be empirical or applied in nature, often with an explicit policy focus, and there has been a marked increase in the number of health publications in the past decade, in part reflecting the now widespread availability of new high-quality microdata. A notable focus of a large number of articles has been on inequalities or disparities in health care utilisation, health outcomes, and health behaviours. Overall the ESR has made a meaningful contribution to the dissemination of high quality, impactful and policy-relevant health research over its fifty years. Nonetheless, there are a number of important health-related topics that have, somewhat surprisingly, received scant attention to date in the journal.