Area deprivation and mortality in the provincial capital cities of Andalusia and Catalonia (Spain)

• Published in: Journal of epidemiology and community health (1979) Vol. 62; no. 2; pp. 147 - 152
• Main Authors: Ocaña-Riola, R, Saurina, C, Fernández-Ajuria, A, Lertxundi, A, Sánchez-Cantalejo, C, Saez, M, Ruiz-Ramos, M, Barceló, M A, March, J C, Martínez, J M, Daponte, A, Benach, J
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: London BMJ Publishing Group Ltd 01.02.2008; BMJ Publishing Group; BMJ; BMJ Publishing Group LTD
• Subjects: Bias; Biological and medical sciences; Capital cities; Censuses; Cities; Community health; Death; Ecological studies; Ecology; Educational Status; Epidemiology; Female; General aspects; Health risks; Humans; Hypotheses; Male; Medical sciences; Men; Mens health; Miscellaneous; Mortality; Mortality risk; Population; Poverty Areas; Public health. Hygiene; Public health. Hygiene-occupational medicine; Research reports; Sex Factors; Small-Area Analysis; Social Class; Socioeconomic Factors; Socioeconomics; Spain - epidemiology; Studies; Unemployment - statistics & numerical data; Urban ecology; Urban Health - statistics & numerical data; Womens health; Working conditions; Europe; Spain; Spain, Cataluna, Girona; Spain, Andalusia; Spain, Andalucia, Malaga; Spain, Granada; Spain, Cataluna, Tarragona; Spain, Catalonia; Medicine; Urban environment; Poverty; Mortality; Epidemiology; Public health; Inequality
• ISSN: 0143-005X; 1470-2738
• DOI: 10.1136/jech.2006.053280

Objective: To study the linkage between material deprivation and mortality from all causes, for men and women separately, in the capital cities of the provinces in Andalusia and Catalonia (Spain). Methods: A small-area ecological study was devised using the census section as the unit for analysis. 188 983 Deaths occurring in the capital cities of the Andalusian provinces and 109 478 deaths recorded in the Catalan capital cities were examined. Principal components factorial analysis was used to devise a material deprivation index comprising the percentage of manual labourers, unemployment and illiteracy. A hierarchical Bayesian model was used to study the relationship between mortality and area deprivation. Main results: In most cities, results show an increased male mortality risk in the most deprived areas in relation to the least depressed. In Andalusia, the relative risks between the highest and lowest deprivation decile ranged from 1.24 (Malaga) to 1.40 (Granada), with 95% credibility intervals showing a significant excess risk. In Catalonia, relative risks ranged between 1.08 (Girona) and 1.50 (Tarragona). No evidence was found for an excess of female mortality in most deprived areas in either of the autonomous communities. Conclusions: Within cities, gender-related differences were revealed when deprivation was correlated geographically with mortality rates. These differences were found from an ecological perspective. Further research is needed in order to validate these results from an individual approach. The idea to be analysed is to identify those factors that explain these differences at an individual level.