title: Estimated deaths attributable to social factors in the United States.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  We estimated the number of deaths attributable to social factors in the United States.
  
  
  METHODS
  We conducted a MEDLINE search for all English-language articles published between 1980 and 2007 with estimates of the relation between social factors and adult all-cause mortality. We calculated summary relative risk estimates of mortality, and we obtained and used prevalence estimates for each social factor to calculate the population-attributable fraction for each factor. We then calculated the number of deaths attributable to each social factor in the United States in 2000.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Approximately 245,000 deaths in the United States in 2000 were attributable to low education, 176,000 to racial segregation, 162,000 to low social support, 133,000 to individual-level poverty, 119,000 to income inequality, and 39,000 to area-level poverty.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The estimated number of deaths attributable to social factors in the United States is comparable to the number attributed to pathophysiological and behavioral causes. These findings argue for a broader public health conceptualization of the causes of mortality and an expansive policy approach that considers how social factors can be addressed to improve the health of populations.
authors.affiliation: Department of Epidemiology, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI, USA. sgalea@columbia.edu
authors.forename: Sandro
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Galea
authors.forename: Melissa
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Tracy
authors.forename: Katherine J
authors.initials: KJ
authors.lastname: Hoggatt
authors.forename: Charles
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Dimaggio
authors.forename: Adam
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Karpati
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D002423:Cause of Death; D004522:Educational Status; D006801:Humans; D008875:Middle Aged; D009026:Mortality; D011203:Poverty; D011287:Prejudice; D012306:Risk; D012923:Social Class; D012944:Social Support; D012959:Socioeconomic Factors; D014481:United States / Q000453:epidemiology