All-cause and cause-specific mortality differences in Belgium: dimensions of socio-economic position considered

Sylvie Gadeyne, Vrije Universiteit Brussel
Patrick Deboosere, Vrije Universiteit Brussel

Social inequalities in mortality have been studied thoroughly in the Western World. The question whether different dimensions of socio-economic position (education, professional class and wealth) generate different patterns of inequalities – in terms of the magnitude of differentials and the causes of death they act on – is an interesting issue that has not received much attention and certainly not in relation to the life-cycle stage. The current analysis focuses on this topic using the Belgian National Databank Mortality 1991-1996, an individual record linkage between census and register mortality data. The database covers the total population and provides information on a large set of socio-economic variables. The analysis investigates Belgian men in four age groups. Absolute and relative differences in all-cause and cause-specific mortality rates are calculated for education, professional class and wealth. The research results show interesting patterns of cause-specific mortality with a different impact for each socio-economic dimension.