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Trends in mortality risk by education level and cause of death among US White Women from 1986 to 2006

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  • Montez, J.K.
  • Zajacova, A.

Abstract

Objectives. To elucidate why the inverse association between education level and mortality risk (the gradient) has increased markedly among White women since the mid-1980s, we identified causes of death for which the gradient increased. Methods. We used data from the 1986 to 2006 National Health Interview Survey Linked Mortality File on non-Hispanic White women aged 45 to 84 years (n = 230 692). We examined trends in the gradient by cause of death across 4 time periods and 4 education levels using age-standardized death rates. Results. During 1986 to 2002, the growing gradient for all-cause mortality reflected increasing mortality among low-educated women and declining mortality among college-educated women; during 2003 to 2006 it mainly reflected declining mortality among college-educated women. The gradient increased for heart disease, lung cancer, chronic lower respiratory disease, cerebrovascular disease, diabetes, and Alzheimer's disease. Lung cancer and chronic lower respiratory disease explained 47% of the overall increase. Conclusions. Mortality disparities among White women widened across 1986 to 2006 partially because of causes of death for which smoking is a major risk factor. A comprehensive policy framework should address the social conditions that influence smoking among disadvantaged women.

Suggested Citation

  • Montez, J.K. & Zajacova, A., 2013. "Trends in mortality risk by education level and cause of death among US White Women from 1986 to 2006," American Journal of Public Health, American Public Health Association, vol. 103(3), pages 473-479.
  • Handle: RePEc:aph:ajpbhl:10.2105/ajph.2012.301128_1
    DOI: 10.2105/AJPH.2012.301128
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    Cited by:

    1. Steven A. Haas & Katsuya Oi & Zhangjun Zhou, 2017. "The Life Course, Cohort Dynamics, and International Differences in Aging Trajectories," Demography, Springer;Population Association of America (PAA), vol. 54(6), pages 2043-2071, December.
    2. Yuliana Levchenko & Andrew Fenelon, 2022. "How Tooth Loss Disrupts the Education Gradient in Mortality Risk among US-Born and Foreign-Born Adults," Population Research and Policy Review, Springer;Southern Demographic Association (SDA), vol. 41(3), pages 811-823, June.
    3. Angus Deaton, 2022. "The great divide: education, despair, and death," Business Economics, Palgrave Macmillan;National Association for Business Economics, vol. 57(4), pages 161-168, October.
    4. Anne Case & Angus Deaton, 2023. "Accounting for the Widening Mortality Gap Between Adult Americans with and without a BA," NBER Working Papers 31236, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    5. Haskins, Ronald, 2017. "Using Government Programs to Encourage Employment, Increase Earnings, and Grow the Economy," Working Papers 07513, George Mason University, Mercatus Center.
    6. Isaac Sasson, 2017. "Reply to Trends in Education-Specific Life Expectancy, Data Quality, and Shifting Education Distributions: A Note on Recent Research," Demography, Springer;Population Association of America (PAA), vol. 54(3), pages 1215-1219, June.
    7. Masters, Ryan K. & Link, Bruce G. & Phelan, Jo C., 2015. "Trends in education gradients of ‘preventable’ mortality: A test of fundamental cause theory," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 127(C), pages 19-28.
    8. Zheng, Hui & Dirlam, Jonathan & Choi, Yoonyoung & George, Linda, 2023. "Understanding the health decline of Americans in boomers to millennials," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 337(C).
    9. José Manuel Aburto & Alyson van Raalte, 2018. "Lifespan Dispersion in Times of Life Expectancy Fluctuation: The Case of Central and Eastern Europe," Demography, Springer;Population Association of America (PAA), vol. 55(6), pages 2071-2096, December.
    10. Yoonyoung Choi & Hui Zheng, 2023. "Onset and Cessation of Smoking: Temporal Dynamics and Racial Difference in Educational Smoking Disparities among Women," Population Research and Policy Review, Springer;Southern Demographic Association (SDA), vol. 42(6), pages 1-26, December.
    11. José M. Aburto & Alyson A. van Raalte, 2017. "Lifespan dispersion in times of life expectancy fluctuation: the case of Central and Eastern Europe," MPIDR Working Papers WP-2017-018, Max Planck Institute for Demographic Research, Rostock, Germany.
    12. Wei Zheng & Patrick Paul Walsh, 2018. "Air pollution and health - A provincial level analysis of China," Working Papers 201819, Geary Institute, University College Dublin.
    13. Sarah A. Keller & Kellia J. Hansmann & W. Ryan Powell & Barbara B. Bendlin & Amy J. H. Kind, 2021. "A Scoping Review of the Association of Social Disadvantage and Cerebrovascular Disease Confirmed by Neuroimaging and Neuropathology," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 18(13), pages 1-15, July.
    14. Rodriguez, Javier M., 2018. "Health disparities, politics, and the maintenance of the status quo: A new theory of inequality," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 200(C), pages 36-43.
    15. Connor M. Sheehan, 2019. "Education and Health Conditions Among the Currently Incarcerated and the Non-incarcerated Populations," Population Research and Policy Review, Springer;Southern Demographic Association (SDA), vol. 38(1), pages 73-93, February.
    16. Hendi, Arun S. & Elo, Irma T. & Martikainen, Pekka, 2021. "The implications of changing education distributions for life expectancy gradients," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 272(C).
    17. Zajacova, Anna & Montez, Jennifer Karas, 2018. "Explaining the increasing disability prevalence among mid-life US adults, 2002 to 2016," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 211(C), pages 1-8.
    18. Shannon M. Monnat, 2020. "Trends in U.S. Working-Age non-Hispanic White Mortality: Rural–Urban and Within-Rural Differences," Population Research and Policy Review, Springer;Southern Demographic Association (SDA), vol. 39(5), pages 805-834, October.
    19. Zheng, Hui & Choi, Yoonyoung & Dirlam, Jonathan & George, Linda, 2022. "Rising childhood income inequality and declining Americans’ health," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 303(C).
    20. Ye, Wei & Rodriguez, Javier M., 2021. "Highly vulnerable communities and the Affordable Care Act: Health insurance coverage effects, 2010–2018," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 270(C).

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