Suchergebnisse

The objective of this article is to report on the findings of a study that analysed the impact of politics on infant mortality and life expectancy in countries of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development from 1950 to 1998.Countries were grouped by political tradition based on the parties that governed in these countries from 1950 to 1998. Infant mortality and life expectancy at birth were the dependent variables. Independent variables were grouped on political power, labour market, welfare state and income inequalities. It is presented a descriptive analysis of all variables by political tradition and also Pearson correlation coefficients between variables in different periods.The main conclusion of the study is that the duration of pro-redistributive governments is related with the reduction of income inequalities and infant mortality. ; El objetivo de este artículo es presentar los resultados principales del estudio que analizó el impacto que tiene el poder político sobre la mortalidad infantil y la esperanza de vida en la mayoría de países de la Organización para la Cooperación y el Desarrollo Económico desde 1950 hasta 1998.Los países se agruparon según la tradición política que los había gobernado durante más tiempo a lo largo de los años 1950-1998. La mortalidad infantil y la esperanza de vida al nacer fueron las variables dependientes. Las variables independientes se agruparon en variables de poder político, mercado de trabajo, estado del bienestar y desigualdades de renta. Se presenta un análisis descriptivo de todas las variables según tradición política y también coeficientes de correlación de Pearson entre las variables para distintos períodos.La principal conclusión del estudio es que la duración de los gobiernos de partidos pro-redistributivos desempeña un papel importante en la reducción de las desigualdades de renta y en la disminución de la mortalidad infantil.

Background: Since the 2008 economic crisis in Spain, overall fertility has continued to decrease, while urban inequalities have increased. There is a general lack of studies of fertility patterns in small-areas of Spanish cities. We explored the effects of the economic crisis on fertility during three time periods in urban settings in Spain. Methods: We studied the distribution of fertility rates among women (15-49 years) from Spain and low-middle income countries (LIC) who were living in 13 Spanish cities. We mapped fertility and the MEDEA socioeconomic deprivation index in small-areas, and analyzed age-related trends in fertility rates. We performed an ecological regression analysis of fertility and the deprivation index in two pre-crisis periods (1999-2003 and 2004-2008) and one crisis period (2009-2013). Fertility rates were calculated and smoothed using the hierarchical Bayesian model (BYM). Results: Higher fertility was generally associated with socioeconomic deprivation, with adjustment for the mothers' age and nationality. While Spanish citizens tended to delay childbearing throughout the three study periods, fertility increased among Spanish adolescents from deprived urban areas during the economic crisis. There was a general decline in fertility among immigrants after the crisis, especially in southern cities. Overall, fertility appeared to be stable, with higher fertility in more deprived areas. Conclusion: Increased unemployment and changes to government family policies may have contributed to delayed childbearing in Spain. For immigrants, more restrictive immigration policies may have played a crucial role in decreasing fertility rates. Reforming such policies will be key for better reproductive rights and improved fertility rates across all population cohorts in Spain.

Numerous studies have demonstrated the relationship between summer temperatures and increased heat-related deaths. Epidemiological analyses of the health effects of climate exposures usually rely on observations from the nearest weather station to assess exposure-response associations for geographically diverse populations. Urban climate models provide high-resolution spatial data that may potentially improve exposure estimates, but to date, they have not been extensively applied in epidemiological research. We investigated temperature-mortality relationships in the city of Barcelona, and whether estimates vary among districts. We considered georeferenced individual (natural) mortality data during the summer months (June-September) for the period 1992-2015. We extracted daily summer mean temperatures from a 100-m resolution simulation of the urban climate model (UrbClim). Summer hot days (above percentile 70) and reference (below percentile 30) temperatures were compared by using a conditional logistic regression model in a case crossover study design applied to all districts of Barcelona. Relative Risks (RR), and 95% Confidence Intervals (CI), of all-cause (natural) mortality and summer temperature were calculated for several population subgroups (age, sex and education level by districts). Hot days were associated with an increased risk of death (RR = 1.13; 95% CI = 1.10-1.16) and were significant in all population subgroups compared to the non-hot days. The risk ratio was higher among women (RR = 1.16; 95% CI= 1.12-1.21) and the elderly (RR = 1.18; 95% CI = 1.13-1.22). Individuals with primary education had similar risk (RR = 1.13; 95% CI = 1.08-1.18) than those without education (RR = 1.10; 95% CI= 1.05-1.15). Moreover, 6 out of 10 districts showed statistically significant associations, varying the risk ratio between 1.12 (95% CI = 1.03-1.21) in Sants-Montjuïc and 1.25 (95% CI = 1.14-1.38) in Sant Andreu. Findings identified vulnerable districts and suggested new insights to public health policy makers on how to develop district-specific strategies to reduce risks. ; J.B. gratefully acknowledges funding from the European Union's Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme under grant agreements No 865564 (European Research Council Consolidator Grant EARLY-ADAPT), 727852 (project Blue-Action) and 730004 (project PUCS), and from the Ministry of Science and Innovation (MCIU) under grant agreements No RYC2018-025446-I (programme Ramón y Cajal) and EUR2019-103822 (project EURO-ADAPT). V.I. acknowledges funding from the European Union's Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme under grant agreements 730004 (project PUCS). H.A. gratefully acknowledges funding from the Secretariat for Universities and Research of the Ministry of Business and Knowledge of the Government of Catalonia (grant numbers B00391 [FI-2018], B100180 [FI-2019] and B200139 [FI-2020]).

Background: Few studies have assessed the impact of the financial crisis on inequalities in suicide mortality in European urban areas. The objective of the study was to analyse the trend in area socioeconomic inequalities in suicide mortality in nine European urban areas before and after the beginning of the financial crisis. Methods: This ecological study of trends was based on three periods, two before the economic crisis (2000-2003, 2004-2008) and one during the crisis (2009-2014). The units of analysis were the small areas of nine European cities or metropolitan areas, with a median population ranging from 271 (Turin) to 193 630 (Berlin). For each small area and sex, we analysed smoothed standardized mortality ratios of suicide mortality and their relationship with a socioeconomic deprivation index using a hierarchical Bayesian model. Results: Among men, the relative risk (RR) comparing suicide mortality of the 95th percentile value of socioeconomic deprivation (severe deprivation) to its 5th percentile value (low deprivation) were higher than 1 in Stockholm and Lisbon in the three periods. In Barcelona, the RR was 2.06 (95% credible interval: 1.24-3.21) in the first period, decreasing in the other periods. No significant changes were observed across the periods. Among women, a positive significant association was identified only in Stockholm (RR around 2 in the three periods). There were no significant changes across the periods except in London with a RR of 0.49 (95% CI: 0.35-0.68) in the third period. Conclusions: Area socioeconomic inequalities in suicide mortality did not change significantly after the onset of the crisis in the areas studied. ; This study is a part of the EURO-HEALTHY project (Shaping EUROpean policies to promote HEALTH equity) and has received funding from the European Union's Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme under Grant Agreement No 643398. Michala Lustigova was supported by Charles University (UNCE/HUM 018, too).

Objective To determine whether government efforts in reducing inequalities in health in European countries have actually made a difference to mortality inequalities by socioeconomic group.

OBJECTIVE:To determine whether government efforts in reducing inequalities in health in European countries have actually made a difference to mortality inequalities by socioeconomic group. DESIGN:Register based study. DATA SOURCE:Mortality data by level of education and occupational class in the period 1990-2010, usually collected in a census linked longitudinal study design. We compared changes in mortality between the lowest and highest socioeconomic groups, and calculated their effect on absolute and relative inequalities in mortality (measured as rate differences and rate ratios, respectively). SETTING:All European countries for which data on socioeconomic inequalities in mortality were available for the approximate period between years 1990 and 2010. These included Finland, Norway, Sweden, Scotland, England and Wales (data applied to both together), France, Switzerland, Spain (Barcelona), Italy (Turin), Slovenia, and Lithuania. RESULTS:Substantial mortality declines occurred in lower socioeconomic groups in most European countries covered by this study. Relative inequalities in mortality widened almost universally, because percentage declines were usually smaller in lower socioeconomic groups. However, as absolute declines were often smaller in higher socioeconomic groups, absolute inequalities narrowed by up to 35%, particularly among men. Narrowing was partly driven by ischaemic heart disease, smoking related causes, and causes amenable to medical intervention. Progress in reducing absolute inequalities was greatest in Spain (Barcelona), Scotland, England and Wales, and Italy (Turin), and absent in Finland and Norway. More detailed studies preferably using individual level data are necessary to identify the causes of these variations. CONCLUSIONS:Over the past two decades, trends in inequalities in mortality have been more favourable in most European countries than is commonly assumed. Absolute inequalities have decreased in several countries, probably more as a side effect of population wide behavioural changes and improvements in prevention and treatment, than as an effect of policies explicitly aimed at reducing health inequalities. ; Peer reviewed