title: Education and mortality in Spain: a national study supports local findings.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To estimate educational inequalities in mortality in Spain and in three Spanish areas: Madrid, Barcelona, and the Basque country.
  
  
  METHODS
  A national prospective study was carried out including all persons aged 25-74 years living in Spain in 2001 and followed up for mortality over 7 years. The mortality rate ratio and difference from all causes and from leading causes of death were estimated for the entire Spanish population and for the above three geographical areas.
  
  
  RESULTS
  With respect to people with the highest education, the mortality rate ratios in the entire population of Spain in people with the second highest, second lowest and lowest education were, respectively, 1.09, 1.10, 1.39 in women and 1.19, 1.27 and 1.54 in men. The mortality rate differences per 100,000 person-years were, respectively, 24.8, 28.3, 108.2 in women and 116.7, 162.5 and 319.1 in men. These estimates were intermediate in magnitude compared to those seen in the three geographical areas.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The results provide further evidence that educational inequalities in mortality are smaller in the south of Europe than in other European countries.
authors.affiliation: Department of Preventive Medicine and Public Health, Faculty of Medicine, Universidad Complutense de Madrid, Ciudad Universitaria, 28040, Madrid, Spain. enriqueregidor@hotmail.com.|CIBER Epidemiología y Salud Pública (CIBERESP), Madrid, Spain. enriqueregidor@hotmail.com.|Instituto de Investigación Sanitaria del Hospital Clínico San Carlos (IdISSC), Madrid, Spain. enriqueregidor@hotmail.com.
authors.forename: Enrique
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Regidor
authors.affiliation: National School of Public Health, Instituto de Salud Carlos III, Madrid, Spain.
authors.forename: Laura
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Reques
authors.affiliation: CIBER Epidemiología y Salud Pública (CIBERESP), Madrid, Spain.|National School of Public Health, Instituto de Salud Carlos III, Madrid, Spain.
authors.forename: María J
authors.initials: MJ
authors.lastname: Belza
authors.affiliation: Department of Public Health, Academic Medical Center, University of Amsterdam, Amsterdam, The Netherlands.
authors.forename: Anton E
authors.initials: AE
authors.lastname: Kunst
authors.affiliation: Department of Public Health, Erasmus MC, Rotterdam, The Netherlands.
authors.forename: Johan P
authors.initials: JP
authors.lastname: Mackenbach
authors.affiliation: CIBER Epidemiología y Salud Pública (CIBERESP), Madrid, Spain.|National Epidemiology Center, Instituto de Salud Carlos III, Madrid, Spain.
authors.forename: Luis
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: de la Fuente
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D004522:Educational Status; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009026:Mortality / Q000639:trends; D011446:Prospective Studies; D012923:Social Class; D013030:Spain / Q000453:epidemiology
keywords: Inequalities in mortality; Leading causes of death; Spain; Spanish regions