@article{Barbi_39_21,
author = {Barbi, Elisabetta and Racioppi, Filomena and Casacchia, Oliviero},
title={{Cause-specific mortality as a sentinel indicator of current socioeconomic conditions in Italy}},
journal = {Demographic Research},
volume = {39},
number = {21},
pages = {635--646},
doi = {10.4054/DemRes.2018.39.21},
year = {2018},
abstract = {Background: In the last few years the need for disaggregated statistics at small territorial levels to monitor the social and economic conditions of the various areas of a country has increased considerably. The question of how to define these indicators has been the topic of a recent international debate. 

Objective: This study aims to assess whether simple, widely available demographic indexes, like mortality measures, may serve as sentinel indicators of economic development and social wellbeing in Italy. 

Methods: We analyse and compare the geographical patterns of the infant mortality rate and of the mortality rates for leading causes of death with the spatial pattern found for a more complex index, the vulnerability index, recently introduced by the Italian National Institute for Statistics at the provincial level in contemporary Italy. 

Results: Mortality from leading causes of death such as diseases of the circulatory system, and mortality from increasingly emergent causes of death such as diabetes, may offer a valid statistic to grasp economic development and social wellbeing in Italy today. 

Conclusions: Our findings are important because policymakers need to rely on indicators with the following fundamental properties: easy availability, clear definition, temporal continuity, and spatial comparability. 

Contribution: This study contributes to the literature by showing that mortality data is a straightforward and powerful tool to help policymakers plan appropriate interventions. },
URL = {https://www.demographic-research.org/volumes/vol39/21/},
eprint = {https://www.demographic-research.org/volumes/vol39/21/39-21.pdf}
}