Effect of education and marital status on premature mortality among urban adults in Poland, 1988-1989

Mortality rates among adults 25-64 years of age (premature mortality) in 19 88 and 1989 were compared by educational status (a four-level scale) and ma rital status (married vs. nonmarried) in three Polish cities situated in ec ologically different regions of Poland. Each of the two social factors has a significant influence on mortality after the effect of the other is contr olled statistically. The risk of premature death increases regularly with a n individual's decreasing position on the educational scale; also, the risk is higher among nonmarried than among married persons. This is true in all three urban populations, at all age levels considered, and in both genders . However, the effects of education and of marital status on premature mort ality are more dramatic in males than in females. At middle age, the condit ion of having no spouse and of being poorly educated each expose males to a greater risk of premature mortality than females. (C) 1999 Wiley-Liss, Inc .