Educational level and mortality in a 32-year follow-up study of 18-year-old men in The Netherlands.
Social inequities and their relation to health form a topic of growing concern in the Netherlands. The present investigation on educational level and mortality was carried out in a cohort of men born in 1932, examined for military service in 1950/1951 and for whom vital statistics could be obtained. In the group of 78,505 men, 3456 deaths occurred during the follow-up until 31 December 1981. A life table analysis revealed an inverse relation between educational level and survival. In a multivariate logistic regression model the confounding effects of height and health score were taken into account. In addition to all-cause mortality, the relationships of educational level and mortality from coronary heart disease, cancer and accidents consistently showed an inverse pattern. The applicability of the results elsewhere is discussed.
Doornbos
G
G
Institute of Social Medicine, University of Leiden, The Netherlands.
Kromhout
D
D
D000059:Accidents / Q000401:mortality; D000293:Adolescent; D015331:Cohort Studies; D003327:Coronary Disease / Q000401:mortality; D004522:Educational Status; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D006801:Humans; D015993:Life Tables; D016015:Logistic Models; D008297:Male; D009026:Mortality; D009369:Neoplasms / Q000401:mortality; D009426:Netherlands / Q000453:epidemiology; D012307:Risk Factors