Health disparities in Russia at the regional and global scales

Background: The capacity for health comparisons, including the accurate comparison of indicators, is necessary for a comprehensive evaluation of well-being in places where people live. An important issue is the assessment of within-country heterogeneity for geographically extensive countries. The aim of this study was to assess the spatial and temporal changes in health status in Russia and to compare these regional changes with global trends. Methods: The index, which considers the infant mortality rate and the male and female life expectancy at birth, was used for this purpose. Homogeneous territorial groups were identified using principal component analysis and multivariate ranking procedures. Trend analysis of individual indicators included in the index was also performed to assess the changes over the past 20 years (1990–2017). Results: The study indicated a trend towards convergence in health indicators worldwide, which is largely due to changes in infant mortality. It also revealed that the trend of increasing life expectancy in many regions of Russia is not statistically significant. Significant interregional heterogeneity of health status in Russia was identified according to the application of typological ranking. The regions were characterized by similar index values until the mid-1990s. Conclusions: The strong spatial inequality in health of population was found in Russia. While many regions of Russia were comparable to the countries in the high-income group in terms of GDP, the progress in health was less pronounced. Perhaps this can be explained by intraregional inequality, expressed by significant fluctuations in income levels. Trial registration: Not applicable.