title: Socioeconomic inequalities in cause-specific mortality in 15 European cities.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Socioeconomic inequalities are increasingly recognised as an important public health issue, although their role in the leading causes of mortality in urban areas in Europe has not been fully evaluated. In this study, we used data from the INEQ-CITIES study to analyse inequalities in cause-specific mortality in 15 European cities at the beginning of the 21st century.
  
  
  METHODS
  A cross-sectional ecological study was carried out to analyse 9 of the leading specific causes of death in small areas from 15 European cities. Using a hierarchical Bayesian spatial model, we estimated smoothed Standardized Mortality Ratios, relative risks and 95% credible intervals for cause-specific mortality in relation to a socioeconomic deprivation index, separately for men and women.
  
  
  RESULTS
  We detected spatial socioeconomic inequalities for most causes of mortality studied, although these inequalities differed markedly between cities, being more pronounced in Northern and Central-Eastern Europe. In the majority of cities, most of these causes of death were positively associated with deprivation among men, with the exception of prostatic cancer. Among women, diabetes, ischaemic heart disease, chronic liver diseases and respiratory diseases were also positively associated with deprivation in most cities. Lung cancer mortality was positively associated with deprivation in Northern European cities and in Kosice, but this association was non-existent or even negative in Southern European cities. Finally, breast cancer risk was inversely associated with deprivation in three Southern European cities.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The results confirm the existence of socioeconomic inequalities in many of the main causes of mortality, and reveal variations in their magnitude between different European cities.
authors: CIBER Epidemiología y Salud Pública (CIBERESP), Madrid, Spain Agència de Salut Pública de Barcelona, Barcelona, Spain Institut d'Investigació Biomèdica (IIB Sant Pau), Barcelona, Spain.
authors: Marc
authors: M
authors: Marí-Dell'Olmo
authors: CIBER Epidemiología y Salud Pública (CIBERESP), Madrid, Spain Agència de Salut Pública de Barcelona, Barcelona, Spain Institut d'Investigació Biomèdica (IIB Sant Pau), Barcelona, Spain.
authors: Mercè
authors: M
authors: Gotsens
authors: CIBER Epidemiología y Salud Pública (CIBERESP), Madrid, Spain Agència de Salut Pública de Barcelona, Barcelona, Spain Institut d'Investigació Biomèdica (IIB Sant Pau), Barcelona, Spain.
authors: Laia
authors: L
authors: Palència
authors: Division of Social Medicine, Department of Public Health Sciences, Karolinska Institutet, Stockholm, Sweden.
authors: Bo
authors: B
authors: Burström
authors: Division of Social Medicine, Department of Public Health Sciences, Karolinska Institutet, Stockholm, Sweden.
authors: Diana
authors: D
authors: Corman
authors: Department of Clinical and Biological Science, University of Turin, Turin, Italy.
authors: Giuseppe
authors: G
authors: Costa
authors: Department of Social Research, Vrije Universiteit Brussel, Brussels, Belgium.
authors: Patrick
authors: P
authors: Deboosere
authors: CIBER Epidemiología y Salud Pública (CIBERESP), Madrid, Spain Agència de Salut Pública de Barcelona, Barcelona, Spain Institut d'Investigació Biomèdica (IIB Sant Pau), Barcelona, Spain.
authors: Èlia
authors: È
authors: Díez
authors: Subdirección de Promoción de la Salud y Prevención, Consejería de Sanidad, Comunidad de Madrid, Spain.
authors: Felicitas
authors: F
authors: Domínguez-Berjón
authors: Department of Social Geography and Regional Development, Faculty of Science, Charles University in Prague, Prague, Czech Republic.
authors: Dagmar
authors: D
authors: Dzúrová
authors: Subdirección de Promoción de la Salud y Prevención, Consejería de Sanidad, Comunidad de Madrid, Spain.
authors: Ana
authors: A
authors: Gandarillas
authors: Department of Public Health, Erasmus Medical Center, Rotterdam, the Netherlands.
authors: Rasmus
authors: R
authors: Hoffmann
authors: Demographic Research Institute, Budapest, Hungary.
authors: Katalin
authors: K
authors: Kovács
authors: Department of Social Research, University of Helsinki, Helsinki, Finland.
authors: Pekka
authors: P
authors: Martikainen
authors: Department of Epidemiology and Environmental Health, Regional Environmental Protection Agency, Piedmont, Italy.
authors: Moreno
authors: M
authors: Demaria
authors: Department of Epidemiology and Public Health, University College London, London, UK.
authors: Hynek
authors: H
authors: Pikhart
authors: CIBER Epidemiología y Salud Pública (CIBERESP), Madrid, Spain Agència de Salut Pública de Barcelona, Barcelona, Spain Institut d'Investigació Biomèdica (IIB Sant Pau), Barcelona, Spain.
authors: Maica
authors: M
authors: Rodríguez-Sanz
authors: CIBER Epidemiología y Salud Pública (CIBERESP), Madrid, Spain Research Group on Statistics, Econometrics and Health (GRECS), University of Girona, Girona, Spain.
authors: Marc
authors: M
authors: Saez
authors: Centro de Estudos de Geografia e de Ordenamento do Territorio (CEGOT), Departamento de Geografia, Colégio de S. Jerónimo, Universidade de Coimbra, Coimbra, Portugal.
authors: Paula
authors: P
authors: Santana
authors: Statistik Stadt Zürich, Zürich, Switzerland.
authors: Cornelia
authors: C
authors: Schwierz
authors: Department of Social Research, University of Helsinki, Helsinki, Finland.
authors: Lasse
authors: L
authors: Tarkiainen
authors: Universitat Pompeu Fabra, Barcelona, Spain CIBER Epidemiología y Salud Pública (CIBERESP), Madrid, Spain Agència de Salut Pública de Barcelona, Barcelona, Spain Institut d'Investigació Biomèdica (IIB Sant Pau), Barcelona, Spain.
authors: Carme
authors: C
authors: Borrell
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D001499:Bayes Theorem; D002423:Cause of Death / Q000639:trends*; D002947:Cities / Q000191:economics / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D004522:Educational Status; D005060:Europe / Q000453:epidemiology; D005260:Female; D054624:Health Status Disparities; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D011203:Poverty; D064890:Social Determinants of Health; D012959:Socioeconomic Factors; D062206:Spatial Analysis; D014504:Urban Health / Q000191:economics / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*
keywords: MORTALITY; SOCIAL INEQUALITIES; SPATIAL ANALYSIS