Is the Social Gradient in Mortality Cause Specific? Social Class and Cause-Specific Mortality Over the Last Two Centuries in Southern Sweden

Enrico Debiasi , Lund University
Martin Dribe, Lund University

The relation between socioeconomic status (SES) and mortality has been well documented in the literature, showing how in recent decades a social gradient has emerged, but factors driving such SES differentials in mortality are still under debate. In addition, a much argued matter relates to the timing of the emergence of such SES gradient in mortality, however the literature provides mixed results. The aim of this paper is to advance our understanding about the timing of emergence of SES differences in cause-specific adult mortality for men and women, in a unique regional population, followed longitudinally over 200 years. Our results highlight gender differences particularly for death related to circulatory system and external causes. For men the social gradient in cardiovascular mortality developed from being reversed in the first period to a substantial advantage for higher social classes in the last decades.

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 Presented in Session 5. Health & Mortality 1