Special Collection 2 - Article 9 | Pages 229–254  

Monitoring of trends in socioeconomic inequalities in mortality: Experiences from a European project

By Anton E. Kunst, Vivian Bos, Otto Andersen, Mario Cardano, Giuseppe Costa, Seeromanie Harding, Örjan Hemström, Richard Layte, Enrique Regidor, Alison Reid, Paula Santana, Tapani Valkonen, Johan P. Mackenbach

This article is part of the Special Collection 2 "Determinants of Diverging Trends in Mortality"

Abstract

This paper presents estimates of changes in socioeconomic inequalities in mortality between the 1980s and the 1990s in nine European countries. The best available evidence shows that relative inequalities in mortality generally widened, while the absolute gap remains about the same. However, the pace of change varied greatly, both between countries and within countries (by age and sex).
Additional analyses of specific countries illustrated that data problems can often impede an accurate and detailed assessment of change in inequalities in mortality. These illustrations stressed the importance of evaluating methodological problems, and they point to the urgent need for further development of data sources.

Author's Affiliation

• Anton E. Kunst - Erasmus University Medical Center, the Netherlands EMAIL
• Vivian Bos - Erasmus University Medical Center, the Netherlands EMAIL
• Otto Andersen - Danmarks Statistik, Denmark EMAIL
• Mario Cardano - Università degli Studi di Torino (UNITO), Italy EMAIL
• Giuseppe Costa - Università degli Studi di Torino (UNITO), Italy EMAIL
• Seeromanie Harding - Medical Research Council, United Kingdom EMAIL
• Örjan Hemström - Stockholms Universitet, Sweden EMAIL
• Richard Layte - Economic and Social Research Institute, Ireland EMAIL
• Enrique Regidor - Ministry of Health, Spain, Spain EMAIL
• Alison Reid - University of Western Australia, Australia EMAIL
• Paula Santana - Universidade de Coimbra, Portugal EMAIL
• Tapani Valkonen - Helsingin Yliopisto (University of Helsinki), Finland EMAIL
• Johan P. Mackenbach - Erasmus University Medical Center, the Netherlands EMAIL

Other articles by the same author/authors in Demographic Research

The effects of socioeconomic and cultural characteristics of regions on the spatial patterns of the Second Demographic Transition in Finland
Volume 19 - Article 61

Characteristics of urban regions and all-cause mortality in working-age population: Effects of social environment and interactions with individual unemployment
Volume 17 - Article 5

Educational differentials in male mortality in Russia and northern Europe: A comparison of an epidemiological cohort from Moscow and St. Petersburg with the male populations of Helsinki and Oslo
Volume 10 - Article 1

Increasing excess mortality among non-married elderly people in developed countries
Special Collection 2 - Article 12

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