Trends in the diversity of mortality causes and age-standardised mortality rates among subpopulations within Scotland, 2001-2019

McMonagle, Ciaran, Brown, Denise, Reeve, Richard and Mancy, Rebecca 2022. Trends in the diversity of mortality causes and age-standardised mortality rates among subpopulations within Scotland, 2001-2019. SSM - Population Health 19 , 101192. 10.1016/j.ssmph.2022.101192

PDF - Published Version Available under License Creative Commons Attribution. Download (2MB)

Abstract

Previous research has demonstrated increasing diversity in causes of mortality among high-income nations in recent decades, associated with improvements in health and increasing life expectancies. Health outcomes are known to vary widely between communities within these countries and inequalities between sexes and other subpopulations are key in understanding the health of populations. Despite this, little is known about variation in the diversity of mortality causes between these subpopulations. Diversification in mortality causes indicates an increase in the pool of potential causes of mortality an individual is likely to face. This poses challenges for the public health and medical sectors by increasing diagnostic uncertainty and broadening the range of causes to be addressed by public health and medical interventions. Here we examine trends over time in the diversity in causes of mortality in Scotland by sex and area-level deprivation, also examining deaths among those younger than 75 years and those 75 years and older separately. We find that diversity in causes of mortality has increased across subpopulations; that it has risen more quickly in men than women; that the rate of increase has been similar across age categories; and that there is no clear ranking in the trends by deprivation quintile, despite slower improvements in mortality rates among the most deprived. Increasing diversity in mortality causes suggests that a greater public health focus on reducing death rates from a broader range of causes is likely to be required, and this may be especially important for men who face a faster rate of diversification.

Item Type:	Article
Date Type:	Publication
Status:	Published
Schools:	Schools > Medicine Research Institutes & Centres > Centre for Trials Research (CNTRR)
Publisher:	Elsevier
ISSN:	2352-8273
Date of First Compliant Deposit:	5 November 2025
Date of Acceptance:	29 July 2022
Last Modified:	05 Nov 2025 10:46
URI:	https://orca.cardiff.ac.uk/id/eprint/182112

Actions (repository staff only)

Edit Item