The poorest people live almost 4 years less than the richest
- A work, published in 'Scientific Reports', develops the first life tables in Spain by socioeconomic level
- They will be very useful to study the survival of different diseases such as cancer
- Research staff from CIBERESP, the ibs.GRANADA Biosanitary Research Institute, the Andalusian School of Public Health, the National Epidemiology Center of the Carlos III Health Institute and the University of Granada participate
People with fewer economic resources live between 3 and 4 years less than the richest, according to a study by several groups from the Area of Epidemiology and Public Health (CIBERESP) of the Network Biomedical Research Center Consortium (CIBER-ISCIII), which has been published in the prestigious scientific journal Scientific Reports, Group Nature; and that it has received funding from the Carlos III Health Institute (ISCIII) and the Spanish Association Against Cancer (AECC).
The research teams of the ISCIII National Epidemiology Center, the ibs.GRANADA Biosanitary Research Institute, the University of Granada and the Andalusian School of Public Health have developed the first life tables in Spain by socioeconomic level, which will be very useful for study the survival of different diseases, including cancer.
Analyzing the relationship between the level and life expectancy at birth, the authors have determined that women and men residing in the poorest areas live between 3,2 and 3,8 years less, respectively, than in the richest areas . In addition, it has been calculated that, on average, women live 5,6 years longer than men (82,9 years for women compared to 77,3 for men); By provinces, it is observed that life expectancy at birth was higher in the northern half of the peninsula, in both sexes, and in the capitals compared to rural areas.
To carry out this research, all deaths from any cause of death in the 35.960 census sections of Spain during the 2011-2013 period were analyzed, and mortality was modeled by sex, age group and socioeconomic level.
The level of wealth or poverty in each area was measured using an index developed by the Spanish Society of Epidemiology, which includes information on six indicators mainly related to employment and education: percentage of manual workers (with and without employment), workers casual, percentage of the population without secondary education and main dwellings without internet access.
According to Daniel Redondo, a CIBERESP researcher at ibs.GRANADA and the Andalusian School of Public Health, "Understanding the association between life expectancy and socioeconomic status could help develop appropriate public health programs and in this line, life tables are necessary to estimate cancer-specific survival measures according to social status."
Introduce the perspective of inequality in health, key
Obtaining, for the first time in Spain, life tables by socioeconomic level will now allow the study of survival in cancer and other chronic diseases, introducing the perspective of health inequalities, as has already been done in other countries such as the United Kingdom, which will contribute to a better knowledge and understanding of the factors that influence the prognosis of certain diseases in our country.
For María José Sánchez, head of the CIBERESP group at the Andalusian School of Public Health, “our life tables are essential for calculating life expectancy and estimating survival due to cancer, since inequalities in this disease persist and have an economic impact on healthcare costs”. To do this, tables are needed that estimate this survival rate based on cancer registries that collect net survival, probability of death, and years of life lost due to this disease, among other factors.
The generated life tables, available to researchers in the GitHub repository:
https://github.com/migariane/Spanish_LifeTablesByDeprivation
Reference article:
Association of socioeconomic deprivation with life expectancy and all-cause mortality in Spain, 2011-2013 Daniel Redondo-Sánchez, María-José Sánchez, Pablo Fernández-Navarro, Bernard Rachet, Miguel Ángel Luque-Fernández. PMID: 36114247PMCID: PMC9481591 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-022-19859-1
