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BMC Public Health
Published in: BMC Public Health 1/2008

Open Access 01-12-2008 | Research article

Socio-economic status and overall and cause-specific mortality in Sweden

Authors: Marianne Weires, Justo Lorenzo Bermejo, Kristina Sundquist, Jan Sundquist, Kari Hemminki

Published in: BMC Public Health | Issue 1/2008

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Abstract

Background

Previous studies have reported discrepancies in cause-specific mortality among groups of individuals with different socio-economic status. However, most of the studies were limited by the specificity of the investigated populations and the broad definitions of the causes of death. The aim of the present population-based study was to explore the dependence of disease specific mortalities on the socio-economic status in Sweden, a country with universal health care. Another aim was to investigate possible gender differences.

Methods

Using the 2006 update of the Swedish Family-Cancer Database, we identified over 2 million individuals with socio-economic data recorded in the 1960 national census. The association between mortality and socio-economic status was investigated by Cox's proportional hazards models taking into account the age, time period and residential area in both men and women, and additionally parity and age at first birth in women.

Results

We observed significant associations between socio-economic status and mortality due to cardiovascular diseases, respiratory diseases, to cancer and to endocrine, nutritional and metabolic diseases. The influence of socio-economic status on female breast cancer was markedly specific: women with a higher socio-economic status showed increased mortality due to breast cancer.

Conclusion

Even in Sweden, a country where health care is universally provided, higher socio-economic status is associated with decreased overall and cause-specific mortalities. Comparison of mortality among female and male socio-economic groups may provide valuable insights into the underlying causes of socio-economic inequalities in length of life.
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Metadata
Title
Socio-economic status and overall and cause-specific mortality in Sweden
Authors
Marianne Weires
Justo Lorenzo Bermejo
Kristina Sundquist
Jan Sundquist
Kari Hemminki
Publication date
01-12-2008
Publisher
BioMed Central
Published in
BMC Public Health / Issue 1/2008
Electronic ISSN: 1471-2458
DOI
https://doi.org/10.1186/1471-2458-8-340

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