WIDENING SOCIAL INEQUALITIES IN MORTALITY - THE CASE OF BARCELONA, A SOUTHERN EUROPEAN CITY

Objective-To analyse trends in mortality inequalities in Barcelona bet ween 1983 and 1994 by comparing rates in those electoral wards with a low socioeconomic level and rates in the remaining wards. Design-Morta lity trends study. Setting-The city of Barcelona (Spain). Subjects-The study included all deaths among residents of the two groups of city w ards. Details were obtained from death certificates. Main outcome meas ures-Age standardised mortality rates, age standardised rates of years of potential life lost, and age specific mortality rates in relation to cause of death, sex, and year were computed as well as the comparat ive mortality figure and the ratio of standardised rates of years of p otential life lost. Results-Rates of premature mortality increased fro m 5691.2 years of potential life lost per 100 000 inhabitants aged 1 t o 70 years in 1983 to 7606.2 in 1994 in the low socioeconomic level wa rds, and from 3731.2 to 4236.9 in the other wards, showing an increase in inequalities over the 12 years, mostly due to AIDS and drug overdo se as causes of death. Conversely, cerebrovascular disease showed a re duction in inequality over the same period. Overall mortality in the 1 5-44 age group widened the gap between both groups of wards. Conclusio n-AIDS and drug overdose are emerging as the causes of death that are contributing to a substantial increase in social inequality in terms o f premature mortality, an unreported observation in European urban are as.