Socioeconomic status and mortality in Dutch elderly people - The Rotterdamstudy

Background: The aim of the study was to describe the relationship between s ocioeconomic status and mortality in Dutch elderly people. Methods: A prosp ective follow-up study was performed among 4,878 women and 3,105 men aged 5 5 years and over living in Ommoord, a district of Rotterdam, The Netherland s. At baseline, data on education, occupation and income were collected. Da ta on mortality were obtained from the municipal population registry and ge neral practitioners, Relative risks of mortality by indicators of socioecon omic status were estimated after an average follow-up period of 4.1 years. Separate age-adjusted analyses were performed for men and women. Results: T he findings in this study indicate that for men (mean age at baseline of 69 +/- 9 years), differences in mortality exist for all three indicators of s ocioeconomic status. Mortality risks were higher for lower educated men, un skilled manual workers and those with a fewer equivalent household income. For women (mean age 72 +/- 10 years), the relative risks of mortality were also higher for lower educated groups, but lower equivalent household incom e and occupational status appeared not to be related to mortality. Conclusi ons: In elderly Dutch people, there are clear differences in mortality acro ss groups of different socioeconomic status. The mechanisms for explaining the apparent inequalities in health among older subjects require further re search.