The size of educational differences in mortality from specific causes of death in men and women

This study examines the association between education and mortality from specific causes of death based on mortality records for 1996 and 1997, and 1996 population census data from the Region of Madrid (Spain). Poisson regression models were used to estimate the percentage increase in mortality associated with 1 year less education. The percentage increases in mortality from stomach cancer, lung, bladder and liver cancers, for aids, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, pneumonia and influenza, and chronic liver disease and cirrhosis were higher in men than in women, whereas the percentage increases in mortality from colon cancer, diabetes mellitus, ischemic heart disease and nephritis, nephrosis and nephrotic syndrome were higher in women. The results found for some causes of death – lung cancer, ischemic heart disease, diabetes mellitus and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease – reflect the variations by educational level in the prevalence of lifestyle-related risk factors in men and women. Various hypotheses have been suggested for other causes of death, but it is not known why the magnitude of the association between education and mortality from some causes of death differs between men and women. Future studies of this subject may provide some clues as to the underlying mechanisms of this association.