Gap in mortality rates between people with more, less education widened, study finds

May 19 2008

The gap in mortality rates between highly educated and poorly educated people widened during the 1990s, according to a study published on Tuesday in the online journal PLoS One, the Washington Post reports.

For the study, lead author Ahmedin Jemal, an epidemiologist at the American Cancer Society, and colleagues examined vital statistics from 43 states and Washington, D.C., from 1993 to 2001. The researchers looked at death rates for people ages 25 to 64 and found that whites who did not finish high school were four times more likely to die at an age below the life expectancy for their group than whites who had a college education. The finding was similar, but less dramatic, among blacks.

White females who did not complete high school had the greatest declines in health, with their mortality rate increasing by about 3% per year over the nine-year study period. A greater number of accidents, heart attacks and cases of emphysema and cancer were responsible for about half of the increase. White males who did not finish high school had about a 1% increase in mortality per year over the study period, due in large part to an increasing number of accidents, suicides and cancer.

Black men who received a college education experienced the greatest decline in premature deaths, as mortality rates dropped 6% per year over the study period. The group had fewer deaths from heart disease, cancer and, particularly, AIDS, compared with lower-education blacks. Mortality rates of black women who received a college education declined by 3% per year over the study period. Their mortality rate declined because of fewer strokes, heart attacks and cases of cancer.

"Socioeconomic disparity in mortality is pervasive, and it continues to increase," Jemal said. Study co-author Robert Anderson of CDC's National Center for Health Statistics said the widening gap "says something about the overall health of our population," adding, "The haves seem to be doing quite well, and their mortality is going down. But those who don't have their resources are not doing so well" (Brown, Washington Post, 5/14).

The study is available online.