| 1. |
- Eikemo, Terje A., et al.
(författare)
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How Can Inequalities in Mortality Be Reduced? : A Quantitative Analysis of 6 Risk Factors in 21 European Populations
- 2014
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Ingår i: PLOS ONE. - : Public Library of Science (PLoS). - 1932-6203. ; 9:11, s. e110952-
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Background: Socioeconomic inequalities in mortality are one of the greatest challenges for health policy in all European countries, but the potential for reducing these inequalities is unclear. We therefore quantified the impact of equalizing the distribution of six risk factors for mortality: smoking, overweight, lack of physical exercise, lack of social participation, low income, and economic inactivity. Methods: We collected and harmonized data on mortality and risk factors by educational level for 21 European populations in the early 2000s. The impact of the risk factors on mortality in each educational group was determined using Population Attributable Fractions. We estimated the impact on inequalities in mortality of two scenarios: a theoretical upward levelling scenario in which inequalities in the risk factor were completely eliminated, and a more realistic best practice scenario, in which inequalities in the risk factor were reduced to those seen in the country with the smallest inequalities for that risk factor. Findings: In general, upward levelling of inequalities in smoking, low income and economic inactivity hold the greatest potential for reducing inequalities in mortality. While the importance of low income is similar across Europe, smoking is more important in the North and East, and overweight in the South. On the basis of best practice scenarios the potential for reducing inequalities in mortality is often smaller, but still substantial in many countries for smoking and physical inactivity. Interpretation: Theoretically, there is a great potential for reducing inequalities in mortality in most European countries, for example by equity-oriented tobacco control policies, income redistribution and employment policies. Although it is necessary to achieve substantial degrees of upward levelling to make a notable difference for inequalities in mortality, the existence of best practice countries with more favourable distributions for some of these risk factors suggests that this is feasible.
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| 2. |
- Gallo, Valentina, et al.
(författare)
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Social Inequalities and Mortality in Europe - Results from a Large Multi-National Cohort
- 2012
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Ingår i: PLoS ONE. - : Public Library of Science (PLoS). - 1932-6203. ; 7:7
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Background: Socio-economic inequalities in mortality are observed at the country level in both North America and Europe. The purpose of this work is to investigate the contribution of specific risk factors to social inequalities in cause-specific mortality using a large multi-country cohort of Europeans. Methods: A total of 3,456,689 person/years follow-up of the European Prospective Investigation into Cancer and Nutrition (EPIC) was analysed. Educational level of subjects coming from 9 European countries was recorded as proxy for socioeconomic status (SES). Cox proportional hazard model's with a step-wise inclusion of explanatory variables were used to explore the association between SES and mortality; a Relative Index of Inequality (RII) was calculated as measure of relative inequality. Results: Total mortality among men with the highest education level is reduced by 43% compared to men with the lowest (HR 0.57, 95% C.I. 0.52-0.61); among women by 29% (HR 0.71, 95% C.I. 0.64-0.78). The risk reduction was attenuated by 7% in men and 3% in women by the introduction of smoking and to a lesser extent (2% in men and 3% in women) by introducing body mass index and additional explanatory variables (alcohol consumption, leisure physical activity, fruit and vegetable intake) (3% in men and 5% in women). Social inequalities were highly statistically significant for all causes of death examined in men. In women, social inequalities were less strong, but statistically significant for all causes of death except for cancer-related mortality and injuries. Discussion: In this European study, substantial social inequalities in mortality among European men and women which cannot be fully explained away by accounting for known common risk factors for chronic diseases are reported.
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| 3. |
- Kulhánová, Ivana, et al.
(författare)
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Assessing the potential impact of increased participation in higher education on mortality : Evidence from 21 European populations
- 2014
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Ingår i: Social Science and Medicine. - : Elsevier BV. - 0277-9536 .- 1873-5347. ; 117, s. 142-149
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Although higher education has been associated with lower mortality rates in many studies, the effect of potential improvements in educational distribution on future mortality levels is unknown. We therefore estimated the impact of projected increases in higher education on mortality in European populations. We used mortality and population data according to educational level from 21 European populations and developed counterfactual scenarios. The first scenario represented the improvement in the future distribution of educational attainment as expected on the basis of an assumption of cohort replacement. We estimated the effect of this counterfactual scenario on mortality with a 10-15-year time horizon among men and women aged 30-79 years using a specially developed tool based on population attributable fractions (PAF). We compared this with a second, upward levelling scenario in which everyone has obtained tertiary education. The reduction of mortality in the cohort replacement scenario ranged from 1.9 to 10.1% for men and from 1.7 to 9.0% for women. The reduction of mortality in the upward levelling scenario ranged from 22.0 to 57.0% for men and from 9.6 to 50.0% for women. The cohort replacement scenario was estimated to achieve only part (4-25% (men) and 10-31% (women)) of the potential mortality decrease seen in the upward levelling scenario. We concluded that the effect of on-going improvements in educational attainment on average mortality in the population differs across Europe, and can be substantial. Further investments in education may have important positive side-effects on population health.
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| 4. |
- Kulhánová, Ivana, et al.
(författare)
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Socioeconomic differences in the use of ill-defined causes of death in 16 European countries
- 2014
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Ingår i: BMC Public Health. - : Springer Science and Business Media LLC. - 1471-2458. ; 14
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- BACKGROUND: Cause-of-death data linked to information on socioeconomic position form one of the most important sources of information about health inequalities in many countries. The proportion of deaths from ill-defined conditions is one of the indicators of the quality of cause-of-death data. We investigated educational differences in the use of ill-defined causes of death in official mortality statistics.METHODS: Using age-standardized mortality rates from 16 European countries, we calculated the proportion of all deaths in each educational group that were classified as due to "Symptoms, signs and ill-defined conditions". We tested if this proportion differed across educational groups using Chi-square tests.RESULTS: The proportion of ill-defined causes of death was lower than 6.5% among men and 4.5% among women in all European countries, without any clear geographical pattern. This proportion statistically significantly differed by educational groups in several countries with in most cases a higher proportion among less than secondary educated people compared with tertiary educated people.CONCLUSIONS: We found evidence for educational differences in the distribution of ill-defined causes of death. However, the differences between educational groups were small suggesting that socioeconomic inequalities in cause-specific mortality in Europe are not likely to be biased.
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| 5. |
- Kulhánová, Ivana, et al.
(författare)
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The role of three lifestyle risk factors in reducing educational differences in ischaemic heart disease mortality in Europe
- 2017
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Ingår i: European Journal of Public Health. - : Oxford University Press. - 1101-1262 .- 1464-360X. ; 27:2, s. 203-210
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- BACKGROUND: Ischaemic heart disease (IHD) is one of the leading causes of death worldwide with a higher risk of dying among people with a lower socioeconomic status. We investigated the potential for reducing educational differences in IHD mortality in 21 European populations based on two counterfactual scenarios-the upward levelling scenario and the more realistic best practice country scenario.METHODS: We used a method based on the population attributable fraction to estimate the impact of a modified educational distribution of smoking, overweight/obesity, and physical inactivity on educational inequalities in IHD mortality among people aged 30-79. Risk factor prevalence was collected around the year 2000 and mortality data covered the early 2000s.RESULTS: The potential reduction of educational inequalities in IHD mortality differed by country, sex, risk factor and scenario. Smoking was the most important risk factor among men in Nordic and eastern European populations, whereas overweight and obesity was the most important risk factor among women in the South of Europe. The effect of physical inactivity on the reduction of inequalities in IHD mortality was smaller compared with smoking and overweight/obesity. Although the reduction in inequalities in IHD mortality may seem modest, substantial reduction in IHD mortality among the least educated can be achieved under the scenarios investigated.CONCLUSION: Population wide strategies to reduce the prevalence of risk factors such as smoking, and overweight/obesity targeted at the lower socioeconomic groups are likely to substantially contribute to the reduction of IHD mortality and inequalities in IHD mortality in Europe.
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| 6. |
- Long, Di, et al.
(författare)
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Smoking and inequalities in mortality in 11 European countries : a birth cohort analysis
- 2021
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Ingår i: Population Health Metrics. - : BioMed Central (BMC). - 1478-7954. ; 19:1
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- PURPOSE: To study the trends of smoking-attributable mortality among the low and high educated in consecutive birth cohorts in 11 European countries.METHODS: Register-based mortality data were collected among adults aged 30 to 79 years in 11 European countries between 1971 and 2012. Smoking-attributable deaths were estimated indirectly from lung cancer mortality rates using the Preston-Glei-Wilmoth method. Rate ratios and rate differences among the low and high-educated were estimated and used to estimate the contribution of inequality in smoking-attributable mortality to inequality in total mortality.RESULTS: In most countries, smoking-attributable mortality decreased in consecutive birth cohorts born between 1906 and 1961 among low- and high-educated men and high-educated women, but not among low-educated women among whom it increased. Relative educational inequalities in smoking-attributable mortality increased among both men and women with no signs of turning points. Absolute inequalities were stable among men but slightly increased among women. The contribution of inequality in smoking-attributable mortality to inequality in total mortality decreased in consecutive generations among men but increased among women.CONCLUSIONS: Smoking might become less important as a driver of inequalities in total mortality among men in the future. However, among women, smoking threatens to further widen inequalities in total mortality.
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| 7. |
- Lorant, Vincent, et al.
(författare)
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Socioeconomic inequalities in suicide in Europe : the widening gap
- 2018
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Ingår i: British Journal of Psychiatry. - : Royal College of Psychiatry. - 0007-1250 .- 1472-1465. ; 212:6, s. 356-361
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- BACKGROUND: Suicide has been decreasing over the past decade. However, we do not know whether socioeconomic inequality in suicide has been decreasing as well.AimsWe assessed recent trends in socioeconomic inequalities in suicide in 15 European populations.METHOD: The DEMETRIQ study collected and harmonised register-based data on suicide mortality follow-up of population censuses, from 1991 and 2001, in European populations aged 35-79. Absolute and relative inequalities of suicide according to education were computed on more than 300 million person-years.RESULTS: In the 1990s, people in the lowest educational group had 1.82 times more suicides than those in the highest group. In the 2000s, this ratio increased to 2.12. Among men, absolute and relative inequalities were substantial in both periods and generally did not decrease over time, whereas among women inequalities were absent in the first period and emerged in the second.CONCLUSIONS: The World Health Organization (WHO) plan for 'Fair opportunity of mental wellbeing' is not likely to be met.Declaration of interestNone.
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| 8. |
- Mackenbach, Johan P., et al.
(författare)
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Changes in mortality inequalities over two decades : register based study of European countries
- 2016
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Ingår i: BMJ Open. - : BMJ. - 2044-6055. ; 353
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Objective To determine whether government efforts in reducing inequalities in health in European countries have actually made a difference to mortality inequalities by socioeconomic group.Design Register based study.Data source Mortality data by level of education and occupational class in the period 1990-2010, usually collected in a census linked longitudinal study design. We compared changes in mortality between the lowest and highest socioeconomic groups, and calculated their effect on absolute and relative inequalities in mortality (measured as rate differences and rate ratios, respectively).Setting All European countries for which data on socioeconomic inequalities in mortality were available for the approximate period between years 1990 and 2010. These included Finland, Norway, Sweden, Scotland, England and Wales (data applied to both together), France, Switzerland, Spain (Barcelona), Italy (Turin), Slovenia, and Lithuania.Results Substantial mortality declines occurred in lower socioeconomic groups in most European countries covered by this study. Relative inequalities in mortality widened almost universally, because percentage declines were usually smaller in lower socioeconomic groups. However, as absolute declines were often smaller in higher socioeconomic groups, absolute inequalities narrowed by up to 35%, particularly among men. Narrowing was partly driven by ischaemic heart disease, smoking related causes, and causes amenable to medical intervention. Progress in reducing absolute inequalities was greatest in Spain (Barcelona), Scotland, England and Wales, and Italy (Turin), and absent in Finland and Norway. More detailed studies preferably using individual level data are necessary to identify the causes of these variations.Conclusions Over the past two decades, trends in inequalities in mortality have been more favourable in most European countries than is commonly assumed. Absolute inequalities have decreased in several countries, probably more as a side effect of population wide behavioural changes and improvements in prevention and treatment, than as an effect of policies explicitly aimed at reducing health inequalities.
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| 9. |
- Mackenbach, Johan P., et al.
(författare)
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Determinants of inequalities in life expectancy : an international comparative study of eight risk factors
- 2019
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Ingår i: The Lancet Public Health. - : Elsevier. - 2468-2667. ; 4:10, s. E529-E537
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Background Socioeconomic inequalities in longevity have been found in all European countries. We aimed to assess which determinants make the largest contribution to these inequalities. Methods We did an international comparative study of inequalities in risk factors for shorter life expectancy in Europe. We collected register-based mortality data and survey-based risk factor data from 15 European countries. We calculated partial life expectancies between the ages of 35 years and 80 years by education and gender and determined the effect on mortality of changing the prevalence of eight risk factors-father with a manual occupation, low income, few social contacts, smoking, high alcohol consumption, high bodyweight, low physical exercise, and low fruit and vegetable consumption-among people with a low level of education to that among people with a high level of education (upward levelling scenario), using population attributable fractions. Findings In all countries, a substantial gap existed in partial life expectancy between people with low and high levels of education, of 2.3-8.2 years among men and 0.6-4.5 years among women. The risk factors contributing most to the gap in life expectancy were smoking (19.8% among men and 18.9% among women), low income (9.7% and 13.4%), and high bodyweight (7.7% and 11.7%), but large differences existed between countries in the contribution of risk factors. Sensitivity analyses using the prevalence of risk factors in the most favourable country (best practice scenario) showed that the potential for reducing the gap might be considerably smaller. The results were also sensitive to varying assumptions about the mortality risks associated with each risk factor. Interpretation Smoking, low income, and high bodyweight are quantitatively important entry points for policies to reduce educational inequalities in life expectancy in most European countries, but priorities differ between countries. A substantial reduction of inequalities in life expectancy requires policy actions on a broad range of health determinants.
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| 10. |
- Mackenbach, Johan P., et al.
(författare)
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Determinants of the magnitude of socioeconomic inequalities in mortality : A study of 17 European countries
- 2017
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Ingår i: Health and Place. - : Elsevier. - 1353-8292 .- 1873-2054. ; 47, s. 44-53
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- The magnitude of socioeconomic inequalities in mortality differs importantly between countries, but these variations have not been satisfactorily explained. We explored the role of behavioral and structural determinants of these variations, by using a dataset covering 17 European countries in the period 1970–2010, and by conducting multilevel multivariate regression analyses. Our results suggest that between-country variations in inequalities in current mortality can partly be understood from variations in inequalities in smoking, excessive alcohol consumption, and poverty. Also, countries with higher national income, higher quality of government, higher social transfers, higher health care expenditure and more self-expression values have smaller inequalities in mortality. Finally, trends in behavioral risk factors, particularly smoking and excessive alcohol consumption, appear to partly explain variations in inequalities in mortality trends. This study shows that analyses of variations in health inequalities between countries can help to identify entry-points for policy.
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