Mortality and socioeconomic indicators in Spain 1962-1991

Background: The study objectives were to describe the evolution of mortalit y and some socioeconomic indicators in the Spanish provinces (n=50) in orde r to quantify their association and assess the capability of these socioeco nomic factors in explaining mortality levels in the Spanish provinces over the period 1962-1991. Methods: An ecological cross-sectional study was perf ormed in order to assess the relationships between some socioeconomic indic ators and mortality in Spain. Data on both-sexes, all-causes, age-adjusted mortality and infant mortality, gross national product per head, economical ly active population and unemployment rates, population density, state hosp ital functioning beds and state primary school units were obtained at a pro vincial aggregation level. A convergence a coefficient was calculated for a ll these indicators and simple and multiple linear regression models for mo rtality were fitted. Results and conclusions: The results suggested that, o ver the study period, mortality rates fell and socioeconomic indicators con verged between provinces, but differences in mortality between provinces di d not decrease. Socioeconomic factors such as unemployment or economic leve l - as measured through gross national product - were consistently associat ed with mortality over all the study period.