(Occupational class and cause specific mortality in middle aged men in 11 European countries: comparison of population based studies)
Health inequality is a fact of life right across Europe with major variations in ill health and death linked to social class and occupation. But the link between class and specific diseases is not uniform across Europe. In Northern Europe deaths from ischaemic heart disease are strongly related to occupational class but this does not apply to France, Switzerland and the Mediterranean countries. In these countries cancers (apart from lung cancer) and gastro-intestinal diseases were strongly linked to class differences in mortality. In France and Finland, excess alcohol consumption was strongly linked to mortality in lower occupational groups. In France this showed up in higher rates for cancer of the upper digestive tract and in liver cirrhosis but in Finland, patterns of binge drinking were associated with violent deaths.
The wide variations mean that caution must be exercised when attempting to extrapolate data on health inequalities from one country to another. These variations also mean that health intervention programmes designed to reduce health inequalities in one European country may not be relevant in another setting.
Contact:
Dr Anton E Kunst, Department of Public Health, Erasmus University, PO Box 1738, NL-3000 DR, Rotterdam, Netherlands
t: +31 10 408 7719 f: +31 10 436 6831 e-mail:kunst@mgz.fgg.eur.nl