The effect of regional politics on regional life expectancy in Italy (1980-2010).
BACKGROUND
The evidence on the association between politics and health is scarce considering the importance of this topic for population health. Studies that investigated the effect of different political regimes on health outcomes show inconsistent results.


METHODS
Bayesian time-series cross-section analyses are used to examine the overall impact of regional politics on variations in Italian regional life expectancy (LE) at birth during the period 1980-2010. Our analyses control for trends in and unobserved determinants of regional LE, correct for temporal as well as spatial autocorrelation, and employ a flexible specification for the timing of the political effects.


RESULTS
In the period from 1980 to 1995, we find no evidence that the communist, left-oriented coalitions and Christian Democratic, centre-oriented coalitions have had an effect on regional LE. In the period from 1995 onwards, after a major reconfiguration of Italy's political regimes and a major healthcare reform, we again find no evidence that the Centre-Left and Centre-Right coalitions have had a significant impact on regional LE.


CONCLUSIONS
The presented results provide no support for the notion that different regional political regimes in Italy have had a differential effect on regional LE, even though Italian regions have had considerable and increasing autonomy over healthcare and health-related policies and expenditures.
1 Department of Public Health, Erasmus University Medical Centre, Rotterdam, The Netherlands.|2 Department of Health Policy and Management, Erasmus University, Rotterdam, The Netherlands.
Marcel F
MF
Jonker
3 Department of Public Health, Health Services Research Laboratory, University of Siena, Italy.
Edoardo
E
D'Ippolito
1 Department of Public Health, Erasmus University Medical Centre, Rotterdam, The Netherlands.|4 Department of Sociology and Political Science, Norwegian University of Science and Technology, Trondheim, Norway.
Terje A
TA
Eikemo
5 School of Geography, Queen Mary University of London, London, UK.
Peter D
PD
Congdon
3 Department of Public Health, Health Services Research Laboratory, University of Siena, Italy.
Nicola
N
Nante
1 Department of Public Health, Erasmus University Medical Centre, Rotterdam, The Netherlands.
Johan P
JP
Mackenbach
1 Department of Public Health, Erasmus University Medical Centre, Rotterdam, The Netherlands.
Carlijn B M
CB
Kamphuis
D001499:Bayes Theorem; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D005260:Female; D018166:Health Care Reform; D006801:Humans; D007558:Italy / Q000453:epidemiology; D008017:Life Expectancy / Q000639:trends*; D008297:Male; D011056:Political Systems; D011057:Politics
Italy; Population health; life expectancy; politics