Avoidable mortality in Europe 1955-1994: a plea for prevention

Different health systems - Different mortality outcomes? Regional disparities in avoidable mortality across German-speaking Europe, 1992-2019

BACKGROUND

Evaluating the impact of health systems on premature mortality across different countries is a very challenging task, as it is hardly possible to disentangle it from the influence of contextual factors such as cultural differences. In this respect, the German-speaking area in Central Europe (Austria, Germany, South Tyrol and large parts of Switzerland) represents a unique 'natural experiment' setting: While being exposed to different health policies, they share a similar culture and language.

METHODS

To assess the impact of different health systems on mortality differentials across the German-speaking area, we relied on the concept of avoidable mortality. Based on official mortality statistics, we aggregated causes of death below age 75 that are either 1) amenable to health care or 2) avoidable through primary prevention. We calculated standardised death rates and constructed cause-deleted life tables for 9 Austrian, 96 German, 1 Italian and 5 Swiss regions from 1992 to 2019, harmonised according to the current territorial borders.

RESULTS

There are strong north-south and east-west gradients in amenable and preventable mortality across the studied regions to the advantage of the southwest. However, the Swiss regions still show significantly lower mortality levels than the neighbouring regions in southern Germany. Eliminating avoidable deaths from the life tables reduces spatial inequality in life expectancy in 2017/2019 by 30% for men and 28% for women.

CONCLUSIONS

The efficiency of health policies in assuring timely and adequate health care and in preventing risk-relevant behaviour has room for improvement in all German regions, especially in the north, west and east, and in eastern Austria as well.

Mortality Trends Related to Bladder Cancer in Spain, 1999-2018

Bladder cancer (BC) is an important cause of premature mortality (PM, <75 years). Spain has one of the highest BC mortality rates in Europe. The objective of this study was to analyse BC mortality trends between 1999 and 2018 in Spain. The study was based on data from the National Institute of Statistics (Instituto Nacional de Estadística-INE). Age-adjusted mortality rates (AAMRs) were calculated by sex and age group. A trend analysis was performed using Joinpoint regression models and years of potential life lost (YPLL). Mortality in men resulting from BC decreased in all age groups studied. This was not observed in women, for whom mortality only decreased in the ≥75 age group. Deaths due to BC occurred prematurely in 38.6% of men and in 23.8% of women, which indicated a greater impact on YPLL in men compared to women. Over the last 20 years, there has been a significant decrease in BC mortality rate, except in women under 75 years of age. Despite this temporal trend of decreasing mortality, BC continues to have a significant impact on YPLL, mainly in men. Given this context, it is important to direct more resources towards prevention and early diagnosis strategies to correct this situation.

Reserves for Reducing Mortality in Russia Due to the Efficiency of Health Care

Approaches to assessing the role of health care in reducing mortality in Russia from the standpoint of controlling manageable causes are discussed. Based on the concept of avoidable mortality, trends in regional variability of mortality, the nosological and gender characteristics for the years 2000-2019 have been analyzed. The patterns revealed indicate the following: a significant contribution of medicine and health care to the decrease in the premature reduction in the life expectancy of the population, the expediency of developing a regional classification of the list of avoidable causes of mortality, and the decisive role of prevention and the improvement of the lifestyle of the population of young and middle ages in the past two decades against the background of a slow increase in the capacity of clinical medicine in the diagnostics and treatment of diseases.

Avoidable Mortality in the German Baltic Sea Region Since Reunification: Convergence or Persistent Disparities?

The consequences of political reunification for health and mortality have the unique character of a 'natural experiment'. This is particularly true for the formerly divided German Baltic Sea region due to its cultural and geographic commonalities. This paper ascertains the changes and differences in premature mortality at ages 0-74 in urban and rural areas of the German states of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern (MV) and Schleswig-Holstein (SH) since reunification and the contribution made by 'avoidable' mortality. Using official cause-of-death data, the effectiveness of health care and health policies was measured based on the concept of avoidable mortality in terms of both amenable and preventable conditions. Methods of decomposition and standardisation were employed in order to erase the compositional effect from the mortality trend. As a result, mortality differences relate primarily to men and the rural areas of the German Baltic Sea region. Whereas the mortality levels in the urban areas of MV and SH have converged, the rural areas of MV still show higher levels of preventable and amenable mortality. The results show that the accessibility and quality of medical care in the thinly populated areas of MV and the effectiveness of inter-sectoral health policies through primary prevention, particularly with regard to men, have room for improvement.

Trends of socioeconomic equality in mortality amenable to healthcare and health policy in 1992-2013 in Finland: a population-based register study

OBJECTIVE

To study trends in socioeconomic equality in mortality amenable to healthcare and health policy interventions.

DESIGN

A population-based register study.

SETTING

Nationwide data on mortality from the Causes of Death statistics for the years 1992-2013.

PARTICIPANTS

All deaths of Finnish inhabitants aged 25-74.

OUTCOME MEASURES

Yearly age-standardised rates of mortality amenable to healthcare interventions, alcohol-related mortality, ischaemic heart disease mortality and mortality due to all the other causes by income. Concentration index (C) was used to evaluate the magnitude and changes in income group differences.

RESULTS

Significant socioeconomic inequalities favouring the better-off were observed in each mortality category among younger (25-64) and older (65-74) age groups. Inequality was highest in alcohol-related mortality, C was -0.58 (95% CI -0.62 to -0.54) among younger men in 2008 and -0.62 (-0.72 to -0.53) among younger women in 2013. Socioeconomic inequality increased significantly during the study period except for alcohol-related mortality among older women.

CONCLUSIONS

The increase in socioeconomic inequality in mortality amenable to healthcare and health policy interventions between 1992 and 2013 suggests that either the means or the implementation of the health policies have been inadequate.

Mortality due to low-quality health systems in the universal health coverage era: a systematic analysis of amenable deaths in 137 countries

BACKGROUND

Universal health coverage has been proposed as a strategy to improve health in low-income and middle-income countries (LMICs). However, this is contingent on the provision of good-quality health care. We estimate the excess mortality for conditions targeted in the Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) that are amenable to health care and the portion of this excess mortality due to poor-quality care in 137 LMICs, in which excess mortality refers to deaths that could have been averted in settings with strong health systems.

METHODS

Using data from the 2016 Global Burden of Disease study, we calculated mortality amenable to personal health care for 61 SDG conditions by comparing case fatality between each LMIC with corresponding numbers from 23 high-income reference countries with strong health systems. We used data on health-care utilisation from population surveys to separately estimate the portion of amenable mortality attributable to non-utilisation of health care versus that attributable to receipt of poor-quality care.

FINDINGS

15·6 million excess deaths from 61 conditions occurred in LMICs in 2016. After excluding deaths that could be prevented through public health measures, 8·6 million excess deaths were amenable to health care of which 5·0 million were estimated to be due to receipt of poor-quality care and 3·6 million were due to non-utilisation of health care. Poor quality of health care was a major driver of excess mortality across conditions, from cardiovascular disease and injuries to neonatal and communicable disorders.

INTERPRETATION

Universal health coverage for SDG conditions could avert 8·6 million deaths per year but only if expansion of service coverage is accompanied by investments into high-quality health systems.

FUNDING

Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.

Health Equity Indicators for the English NHS: a longitudinal whole-population study at the small-area level

Background

Inequalities in health-care access and outcomes raise concerns about quality of care and justice, and the NHS has a statutory duty to consider reducing them.

Objectives

The objectives were to (1) develop indicators of socioeconomic inequality in health-care access and outcomes at different stages of the patient pathway; (2) develop methods for monitoring local NHS equity performance in tackling socioeconomic health-care inequalities; (3) track the evolution of socioeconomic health-care inequalities in the 2000s; and (4) develop ‘equity dashboards’ for communicating equity findings to decision-makers in a clear and concise format.

Design

Longitudinal whole-population study at the small-area level.

Setting

England from 2001/2 to 2011/12.

Participants

A total of 32,482 small-area neighbourhoods (lower-layer super output areas) of approximately 1500 people.

Main outcome measures

Slope index of inequality gaps between the most and least deprived neighbourhoods in England, adjusted for need or risk, for (1) patients per family doctor, (2) primary care quality, (3) inpatient hospital waiting time, (4) emergency hospitalisation for chronic ambulatory care-sensitive conditions, (5) repeat emergency hospitalisation in the same year, (6) dying in hospital, (7) mortality amenable to health care and (8) overall mortality.

Data sources

Practice-level workforce data from the general practice census (indicator 1), practice-level Quality and Outcomes Framework data (indicator 2), inpatient hospital data from Hospital Episode Statistics (indicators 3–6) and mortality data from the Office for National Statistics (indicators 6–8).

Results

Between 2004/5 and 2011/12, more deprived neighbourhoods gained larger absolute improvements on all indicators except waiting time, repeat hospitalisation and dying in hospital. In 2011/12, there was little measurable inequality in primary care supply and quality, but inequality was associated with 171,119 preventable hospitalisations and 41,123 deaths amenable to health care. In 2011/12, > 20% of Clinical Commissioning Groups performed statistically significantly better or worse than the England equity benchmark.

Limitations

General practitioner supply is a limited measure of primary care access, need in deprived neighbourhoods may be underestimated because of a lack of data on multimorbidity, and the quality and outcomes indicators capture only one aspect of primary care quality. Health-care outcomes are adjusted for age and sex but not for other risk factors that contribute to unequal health-care outcomes and may be outside the control of the NHS, so they overestimate the extent of inequality for which the NHS can reasonably be held responsible.

Conclusions

NHS actions can have a measurable impact on socioeconomic inequality in both health-care access and outcomes. Reducing inequality in health-care outcomes is more challenging than reducing inequality of access to health care. Local health-care equity monitoring against a national benchmark can be performed using any administrative geography comprising ≥ 100,000 people.

Future work

Exploration of quality improvement lessons from local areas performing well and badly on health-care equity, improved methods including better measures of need and risk and measures of health-care inequality over the life-course, and monitoring of other dimensions of equity. These indicators can also be used to evaluate the health-care equity impacts of interventions and make international health-care equity comparisons.

Funding

The National Institute for Health Research Health Services and Delivery Research programme.

Commentary: approaches, strengths, and limitations of avoidable mortality

Publication of recent papers such as the one by Schoenbaum and colleagues entitled 'Mortality Amenable to Health Care in the United States: The Roles of Demographics and Health Systems Performance' has stimulated this commentary. We discuss strengths and limitations of amenable and avoidable mortality in health-care systems' performance and their contribution to health inequalities. To illustrate, we present a case study of avoidable and amenable mortality in Spain over 27 years. We conclude that amenable mortality is not a good indicator of health-care systems' performance, or for determining whether it could give rise to health inequalities. To understand health problems and to assess the impact of interventions affecting health requires good, basic, and routine monitoring of health indicators and of socioeconomic determinants of health.

The Contribution of Health Care and Other Interventions to Black-White Disparities in Life Expectancy, 1980-2007

Black-white mortality disparities remain sizable in the United States. In this study, we use the concept of avoidable/amenable mortality to estimate cause-of-death contributions to the difference in life expectancy between whites and blacks by gender in the United States in 1980, 1993, and 2007. We begin with a review of the concept of "avoidable mortality" and results of prior studies using this cause-of-death classification. We then present the results of our empirical analyses. We classified causes of death as amenable to medical care, sensitive to public health policies and health behaviors, ischemic heart disease, suicide, HIV/AIDS, and all other causes combined. We used vital statistics data on deaths and Census Bureau population estimates and standard demographic decomposition techniques. In 2007, causes of death amenable to medical care continued to account for close to 2 years of the racial difference in life expectancy among men (2.08) and women (1.85). Causes amenable to public health interventions made a larger contribution to the racial difference in life expectancy among men (1.17 years) than women (0.08 years). The contribution of HIV/AIDS substantially widened the racial difference among both men (1.08 years) and women (0.42 years) in 1993, but its contribution declined over time. Despite progress observed over the time period studied, a substantial portion of black-white disparities in mortality could be reduced given more equitable access to medical care and health interventions.

The contribution of health policy and care to income differences in life expectancy--a register based cohort study

Background

Growing mortality differences between socioeconomic groups have been reported in both Finland and elsewhere. While health behaviours and other lifestyle factors are important in contributing to health differences, some researchers have suggested that some of the mortality differences attributable to lifestyle factors could be preventable by health policy measures and that health care may play a role. It has also been suggested that its role is increasing due to better results in disease prevention, improved diagnostic tools and treatment methods. This study aimed to assess the impact of mortality amenable to health policy and health care on increasing income disparities in life expectancy in 1996-2007 in Finland.

Methods

The study data were based on an 11% random sample of Finnish residents in 1988–2007 obtained from individually linked cause of death and population registries and an oversample of deaths. We examined differences in life expectancy at age 35 (e₃₅) in Finland. We calculated e₃₅ for periods 1996-97 and 2006-07 by income decile and gender. Differences in life expectancies and change in them between the richest and the poorest deciles were decomposed by cause of death group.

Results

Overall, the difference in e₃₅ between the extreme income deciles was 11.6 years among men and 4.2 years among women in 2006-07. Together, mortality amenable to health policy and care and ischaemic heart disease mortality contributed up to two thirds to socioeconomic differences. Socioeconomic differences increased from 1996-97 by 3.4 years among men and 1.7 years among women. The main contributor to changes was mortality amenable through health policy measures, mainly alcohol related mortality, but also conditions amenable through health care, ischaemic heart disease among men and other diseases contributed to the increase of the differences.

Conclusions

The results underline the importance of active health policy and health care measures in tackling socioeconomic health inequalities.

Socioeconomic differences in mortality amenable to health care among Finnish adults 1992-2003: 12 year follow up using individual level linked population register data

BACKGROUND

Finland decentralised its universal healthcare system and introduced market reforms in the 1990s. Despite a commitment to equity, previous studies have identified persistent socio-economic inequities in healthcare, with patterns of service use that are more pro-rich than in most other European countries. To examine whether similar socio-economic patterning existed for mortality amenable to intervention in primary or specialist care, we investigated trends in amenable mortality by income group from 1992-2003.

METHODS

We analysed trends in all cause, total disease and mortality amenable to health care using individual level data from the National Causes of Death Register for those aged 25 to 74 years in 1992-2003. These data were linked to sociodemographic data for 1990-2002 from population registers using unique personal identifiers. We examined trends in causes of death amenable to intervention in primary or specialist healthcare by income quintiles.

RESULTS

Between 1992 and 2003, amenable mortality fell from 93 to 64 per 100,000 in men and 74 to 54 per 100,000 in women, an average annual decrease in amenable mortality of 3.6% and 3.1% respectively. Over this period, all cause mortality declined less, by 2.8% in men and 2.5% in women. By 2002-2003, amenable mortality among men in the highest income group had halved, but the socioeconomic gradient had increased as amenable mortality reduced at a significantly slower rate for men and women in the lowest income quintile. Compared to men and women in the highest income quintile, the risk ratio for mortality amenable to primary care had increased to 14.0 and 20.5 respectively, and to 8.8 and 9.36 for mortality amenable to specialist care.

CONCLUSIONS

Our findings demonstrate an increasing socioeconomic gradient in mortality amenable to intervention in primary and specialist care. This is consistent with the existing evidence of inequity in healthcare use in Finland and provides supporting evidence of changes in the socioeconomic gradient in health service use and in important outcomes. The potential adverse effect of healthcare reform on timely access to effective care for people on low incomes provides a plausible explanation that deserves further attention.

Amenable mortality revisited: the AMIEHS study

OBJECTIVES

There is a renewed interest in health system indicators. In 1976 a measure of quality of healthcare, amenable mortality, was introduced by Rutstein. This indicator is based on the concept that deaths from certain causes should not occur in the presence of timely and effective healthcare. In the project "Amenable mortality in the European Union: toward better indicators for the effectiveness of health systems" (AMIEHS), we introduce a new approach to the selection of indicators of amenable mortality.

METHODS

Based on predefined selection criteria and a broad review of the literature on the effectiveness of medical interventions, a first set of potential indicators of amenable mortality (causes of death) was selected. The timing of the introduction of medical innovations was established through reviews and questionnaires sent to national experts from seven participating European countries. The preselected indicators were then validated by a trend analysis that identified associations between the timing of innovations and cause-specific mortality trends and by a Delphi-procedure.

RESULTS

After a short review of previous lists of amenable mortality indicators and a detailed description of the innovative procedure in the AMIEHS project we present a list of 14 causes of death that passed our selection criteria. We illustrate our empirical validation of these indicators using the examples of peptic ulcer and renal failure.

CONCLUSIONS

The innovation developed in the AMIEHS study is a rigorous new approach to the concept of amenable mortality that includes empirical validation. Only validated indicators can be successfully used to assess the quality of healthcare systems in international comparisons.

[Evaluation of performance of health systems: a model for analysis]

This paper presents a review of the Dimension Matrix for Evaluation of the Brazilian Health System that was initially developed in 2003, as well as a conceptual update of some of the sub-dimensions for the evaluation of health service performance, namely effectiveness, access, efficiency and appropriateness of health care. It also describes the indicator selection process as well as the results obtained in each performance dimension. The behavior of the indicators used to assess the performance of health services in Brazil, with respect to each sub-dimension, was not uniform. Areas of marked improvement were found in indicators that are influenced by activities in the field of primary care. The most significant improvements were seen in the sub-dimensions of Effectiveness and Access. With respect to the Efficiency of health services, situations of high efficiency coexist with others with substandard performance. The performance of health services in the sub-dimension of Appropriateness of Health Care was the lowest of all indicators.

Not just smoking and high-tech medicine: socioeconomic inequities in U.S. mortality rates, overall and by race/ethnicity, 1960-2006

Recent research on the post-1980 widening of U.S. socioeconomic inequalities in mortality has emphasized the contribution of smoking and high-tech medicine, with some studies treating the growing inequalities as effectively inevitable. No studies, however, have analyzed long-term trends in U.S. mortality rates and inequities unrelated to smoking or due to lack of basic medical care, even as a handful have shown that U.S. socioeconomic inequalities in overall mortality shrank between the mid-1960s and 1980. The authors accordingly analyzed U.S. mortality data for 1960-2006, stratified by county income quintile and race/ethnicity, for mortality unrelated to smoking and preventable by 1960s' standards of medical care. Key findings are that relative and absolute socioeconomic inequalities in U.S. mortality unrelated to smoking and preventable by 1960s' medical care standards shrank between the 1960s and 1980 and then increased and stagnated, with absolute rates on a par with several leading causes of death, and with the burden greatest for U.S. populations of color. None of these findings can be attributed to trends in smoking-related deaths and access to high-tech medicine, and they also demonstrate that socioeconomic inequities in mortality can shrink and need not inevitably rise.

Socioeconomic equity in amenable mortality in Finland 1992-2008

This study presents an approach to assess socioeconomic equity in the effectiveness of health services. As an indicator of health system performance we use amenable mortality which captures premature deaths that should not occur in the presence of effective and timely health care. Data on amenable deaths by income groups in Finland in 1992-2008 came from the National Causes of Death Register which was linked to sociodemographic data in population registers. We evaluate the extent of and trends in socioeconomic differences with two widely used inequity indices, the concentration index and the slope index of inequality, and also for different categories of amenable mortality. By categorizing conditions according to the level of intervention associated with the conditions it is possible to evaluate the effect of types of health interventions. Causes of death attributable to specialized and primary care interventions comprise the main groups. By this approach of decomposing equity in amenable mortality in Finland we detected major and increasing socioeconomic inequities and also greater inequity among deaths amenable to specialized health care interventions. Moreover, we saw that inequity increased at a faster pace among deaths amenable to specialized health care interventions yet primary health care interventions made a greater contribution to overall inequity. Although the overall rate of amenable mortality decreased notably during the follow-up, the time trends of socioeconomic differences in amenable health care indicate a substantial increase in inequities in health care in Finland.

Trends of mortality in Greece 1980-2007: a focus on avoidable mortality

BACKGROUND

Avoidable mortality (AM) refers to deaths from certain conditions considered avoidable given timely and effective health care. AM rates in Greece between 1980 and 2007 were examined in order to investigate the extent to which health care has contributed to the decline in mortality rates in Greece over recent decades and detect possible shortcomings in the Greek healthcare system.

METHODS

Mortality data from the General Secretariat of the National Statistic Service were used. The list of avoidable conditions was the basis of the analysis in which avoidable deaths were classified into conditions amenable to medical care (treatable avoidable mortality) and conditions responsive to health policy (preventable avoidable mortality). Ischaemic heart disease (IHD) was examined separately following relevant studies. Age standardized mortality rates were calculated according to the European Community standard population.

RESULTS

A steady decline of the percentage of AM over all-cause mortality was documented (1980-1984:27%; 2000- 2007:22.9%). AM rate fell by 30.5% (1980-1984:217.4/100,000 population; 2000-2007: 151.1/100,000). Treatable mortality rate fell by 48.1%, marking the largest contribution to the decline in AM (1980-1984:110.9/100,000; 2000- 2007:57.5/100,000). Ischaemic heart disease death rate fell by 13.1% (1980-1984:52.7/100,000; 2000-2007:45.8/100,000). Preventable mortality rates fell by 11%, marking a modest contribution to the decline in AM (1980-1984: 53.7/100,000; 2000-2007: 47.8/100,000).

CONCLUSIONS

Trends in AM in Greece between 1980-2007 were similar to those of other European countries, with Greece performing particularly well with respect to treatable mortality. Although the decline in AM may also reflect changes in factors that influence mortality, such as disease occurrence, environment and socioeconomic conditions, they are suggestive of the health care system being an important determinant of health improvements in Greece during the recent decades. Further studies are needed in order to access the quality of care and to examine the structure and adequacy of health care in Greece.

[Gender differences in avoidable mortality in Brazil (1983-2005)]

The aim of the article was to analyze gender differences in mortality in 117 Brazilian municipalities from 1983 to 2005, based on three groups of causes of avoidable death: (1) avoidable through early diagnosis and treatment, (2) avoidable by improvements in quality of treatment and medical care, and (3) ischemic heart disease. The association between avoidable mortality and demographic and socioeconomic conditions and healthcare variables was analyzed through negative binomial regression. The multiple decrement technique was used to evaluate the impact of avoidable causes on life expectancy for men and women. Men showed a higher risk of death for all three groups of avoidable causes, after controlling for selected variables. Women would gain more than men, with an increase of up to five years in life expectancy, if avoidable causes were eliminated by diagnosis and early treatment. Further research is needed in gender-related factors, which may be related to differential mortality rates in men and women.

The impact of avoidable mortality on life expectancy at birth in Spain: changes between three periods, from 1987 to 2001

Objective:

To evaluate the impact of avoidable mortality on the changes in life expectancy at birth in Spain.

Methods:

Standard life table techniques and the Arriaga method were used to calculate and to decompose life expectancy (LE) changes by age, effects and groups of causes of avoidable mortality among three periods (1987–91, 1992–6 and 1997–2001). A list of causes of avoidable mortality reached by consensus and previously published in Spain was used.

Main results:

Life expectancy increased in all ages and both sexes. The main contribution to the increase of LE at birth was due to people over 50. Mortality in young adults produced a reduction in LE between the first two periods, but there was an important increase in LE between the last two periods; in both cases, this was the result of factors amenable to health policy interventions. The highest improvement in LE was due to non-avoidable causes, but avoidable mortality through health service interventions showed improvements in LE in those younger than 1 year and in those aged 45–75 years.

Conclusions:

Making a distinction between several groups of causes of avoidable mortality and using decomposition by causes, ages and effects allowed us to better explain the impact of avoidable mortality on the LE of the whole population and gave a new dimension to this indicator that could be very useful in public health.

[Avoidable mortality. Changes in the new century?]

OBJECTIVES

To analyze time trends and the geographical distribution of avoidable mortality in the autonomous community of Valencia and its health departments by sex in the periods 1990-1994, 1995-1999, and 2000-2004.

MATERIAL AND METHOD

Twenty-one causes of avoidable mortality were analyzed. The deaths analyzed corresponded to residents in the autonomous community of Valencia between 1990 and 2004. Age-standardized mortality rates were calculated using the direct method. To study time trends in the geographical area of interest for each period and sex, comparative mortality ratios were calculated. To analyze geographical distribution, standardized mortality rates were calculated by the indirect method.

RESULTS

The total number of avoidable deaths was 38,061 (7.1% of overall deaths). Men accounted for 76.2% and women for 23.8%. By groups, 82.4% were preventable and 17.6% were treatable. Preventable deaths represented 86.5% of deaths in men and 69.4% of those in women. Avoidable mortality in Valencia significantly decreased in both sexes, this decrease being more marked in the group of treatable deaths and in men. Mortality from lung cancer in women significantly increased. Between 2000 and 2004, none of the health departments showed a significant excess of treatable mortality.

CONCLUSIONS

In the autonomous community of Valencia, there was a greater decrease in avoidable mortality than in general mortality. The increase in lung cancer in women was notable.

Geographical Gerontology: The constitution of a discipline

Health and healthcare have always been central considerations in geographical gerontology. This paper reviews progress in this part of the field over the past decade (1995-2006) and also looks to the future. It demonstrates how geographical gerontology is currently constituted of multiple fields of empirical interest studied by multiple academic disciplines. Specifically, the continuation and development of traditional perspectives on older population health--in terms of dynamics, distributions and movements--are traced, as well as emerging post-modern perspectives and qualitative approaches that sensitively investigate the complex relationships between older people and the varied places within which they live and are cared for. Mirroring theoretical developments and diversity in the social sciences, the future research challenges that lie ahead will involve the articulation of varied and often hidden cultural practices and social processes, and hitherto taken-for-granted--as well as new--social and spatial relations, between older people, health and place. If however geographical gerontology is to meet these challenges most effectively, there has to be greater collaboration and communication within and between its constituent disciplines and diverse empirical areas. This will help it become recognized to a greater degree as a distinct discipline.

Avoidable mortality in Victoria between 1979 and 2001

OBJECTIVE

To describe trends in avoidable mortality (AM) in Victoria by sex, degree of socio-economic disadvantage and remoteness.

METHODS

The analysis is based on mortality and population data for 1979-2001 supplied by the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) for Victoria. Total and disease-specific AM rates were age standardised using the direct method. For the period between 1997 and 2001, comparisons of total AM rates by sex were made between metropolitan and rural local government areas (LGAs), and between LGAs grouped into quintiles based on socio-economic disadvantage and categories of remoteness.

RESULTS

Total AM rates declined significantly (p < 0.05) in both males and females between 1979 and 2001, but were significantly higher in males compared with females. Total AM rates were significantly higher in rural compared with metropolitan LGAs, from 1997 to 2001 in males and in 1998 in females. Total AM rates in the least disadvantaged quintile were significantly lower than those in the most disadvantaged quintile over the entire five-year period in males and in three years in females. Total AM rates were highest in remote LGAs and lowest in highly accessible LGAs. There were significant declines in ischaemic heart disease, stroke and road traffic accident AM rates among males. In females, IHD, stroke, breast and colon cancer AM rates declined significantly.

CONCLUSIONS AND IMPLICATIONS

Despite large declines in AM in Victoria, there are significant differences in rates between the sexes and in the population based on socio-economic status or remoteness. These results provide opportunities for policy makers to prioritise public health and health services interventions, targeting population groups and specific disease conditions to reduce health inequalities.

The Proportional Mortality Ratios of Specific-cause Mortality by Occupation and Education among Men Aged 20-64 in Korea (1993-2004)

OBJECTIVES

This study investigated the relationship of occupational class and educational background with proportional mortality ratios in Korea.

METHODS

Mortality was investigated using the entire registered death data from 1993 to 2004, obtained from the Korean National Statistics Office. Proportional mortality ratios (PMRs) for specific diseases were calculated according to the occupational class and educational background of men aged 20-64.

RESULTS

Manual workers were found to have higher PMRs for liver disease and traffic accidents, as did the lower educated group. Especially, this study showed trends of an increasing of the wide gap between lower and higher socioeconomic stati for liver disease, traffic accidents, diabetes mellitus and cerebral vascular disease. The mortality for cerebrovascular disease, diabetes mellitus, heart disease, traffic accident and liver disease showed increasing trends according to the calendar year for the lower than the higher social class.

CONCLUSIONS

The specific conditions that had higher PMRs in the Korean lower social class were liver disease and traffic accidents. Especially, there was an increasing trend for a widening of the gap between manual and non-manual groups in relation to mortality from liver disease, diabetes mellitus and traffic accidents.

Effect of healthcare on mortality: Trends in avoidable mortality in Australia and comparisons with Western Europe

OBJECTIVES

Using the concept of avoidable mortality, international studies suggest that healthcare has been effective in reducing mortality. This paper provides an analysis of avoidable mortality in Australia and compares trends with those of Western Europe.

METHODS

Using unit-record mortality data, we calculated avoidable mortality rates in Australia for 1968-2001. We partitioned avoidable causes into three categories: those amenable to medical care; those mainly responsive to health policy; and ischaemic heart disease. We used Poisson regression to model the trends. We compared trends with those of nine European countries using published data.

RESULTS

Total avoidable death rates fell by 68% in females and 72% in males. The corresponding non-avoidable death rates fell by 35 and 33%. The annual declines in avoidable mortality rates were: 3.47% [95% confidence intervals (CI) 3.44-3.50%] in males and 3.89% (95% CI 3.86-3.91%) in females. For non-avoidable mortality rates, the annual declines were 1.09% (95% CI 1.05-1.13%) and 0.95% (95% CI 0.92-0.98%), respectively. In females, declines in death rates from causes amenable to medical care contributed 54% to the decline in avoidable mortality rates, ischaemic heart disease contributed 45%, and causes responsive to health policy intervention contributed 1%. In males, the corresponding contributions were 32, 57 and 11%. These rates, and the declines between 1980 and 1998, were comparable with selected European countries, with Australia's ranking improving over the period.

CONCLUSION

Trends in avoidable mortality in Australia suggest that the Australian healthcare system has been effective in improving population health. Australia's experience compares favourably with that of Europe.

Impact of definition on the study of avoidable mortality: geographical trends in British deaths 1981-1998 using Charlton and Holland's definitions

Avoidable mortality is defined as deaths that should not occur given current medical knowledge and technology. Numerous different lists of causes of death and the ages at which they should be considered avoidable have been used to measure avoidable mortality. In this analysis of the importance of definition we compare the two most commonly used approaches using a data set including all 11.8 million deaths that occurred in Britain in 1981-1998. These mortality data, disaggregated by age and sex, are analysed within a multilevel statistical framework, which allows analysis at a number of geographical scales simultaneously. A substantial difference in both the average trends and spatial patterns of the two definitions of avoidable mortality is found, indicating that the causes of death chosen have a considerable impact on the results found. Indeed, one particular cause of death was found to be largely responsible for the differences between the definitions. In addition, the spatial pattern of the two types of avoidable mortality is very different at the larger geographical scale while the pattern at the smaller scale is very similar. The findings illustrate the importance of considering the goals of any study before deciding on the definition of avoidable mortality to use.

Avoidable mortality in Europe (1980-1997): a comparison of trends

STUDY OBJECTIVE

To analyse international variations of trends in "avoidable" mortality (1980-1997).

DESIGN

A multilevel model was used to study trends in avoidable and "non-avoidable" mortality and trends by cause of death.

SETTING

Fifteen countries of the European Union, the Czech Republic, and Hungary.

PARTICIPANTS

19 avoidable causes of death among men and women aged 0-64 years. Mortality and population data were derived from the WHO mortality database; and perinatal mortality rates, from the Health for All statistical database.

MAIN RESULTS

Avoidable mortality declined (1980-1997) in all the countries except Hungary. The difference between the trends in avoidable and non-avoidable mortality was small (-2.4% compared with -1.5%) and diminished over time. The largest trend variations between countries are attributable to causes mainly or partly amenable to prevention. For five of the 19 causes of death the international variations diminished over time. Various countries show trends that deviate significantly (p<0.003) from the mean trend.

CONCLUSIONS

One explanation for the small and diminishing difference between avoidable and non-avoidable mortality is that some large avoidable causes show unfavourable trends. Another possible explanation is that the category of non-avoidable mortality is "polluted" by causes that have become avoidable with time. It is therefore suggested that Rutstein's lists of avoidable outcomes (1976) be updated to enable the appropriate monitoring of healthcare effectiveness. In countries that show unfavourable developments for specific avoidable causes, further research must unravel the causes of these trends.

Avoidable mortality in Lithuania: 1991-199 compared with 1970-1990

This paper assesses the changes in avoidable mortality in Lithuania in 1991-1999 compared with 1970-1990. Causes of death were disaggregated into causes most amenable to treatment and those amenable to prevention. Trends in age-standardised death rates were calculated. In 1970-1990, avoidable causes of death accounted for 26.3% of all deaths. By 1991-1999 this figure had decreased slightly to 24.6%. At the same time, age-standardised death rates from avoidable causes increased by 8%, from 118.1 per 100000 in 1970-1990 to 127.9 in 1991-1999. Avoidable mortality among men was considerably higher than for women in both periods. There was considerable fluctuation in both treatable and preventable mortality during the 1990s, reflecting diversity in trends in different causes of death. Increases occurred in death rates from tuberculosis, cervical cancer and liver cirrhosis and, immediately after independence, also in hypertensive and cerebrovascular diseases and, among men, lung cancer, followed by subsequent declines. Deaths from chronic rheumatic heart disease, asthma and other respiratory diseases, appendicitis, abdominal hernia, cholelithiasis and maternal mortality consistently declined. In conclusion, avoidable mortality declined as a proportion of total mortality in Lithuania during 1991-1999 compared with 1970-1990. This reflected the combined impact of an initial rise in death rates from treatable and, to a lesser extent, preventable causes, followed by subsequent declines. While this indicates some success in the development of medical care, it emphasises the need for more effective public health policies directed at the major determinants of health.

Potentially avoidable hospitalisations in New Zealand, 1989-98

OBJECTIVE

To describe potentially avoidable hospitalisation in New Zealand, including recent trends and variations between groups differentiated by age, gender, ethnicity and degree of deprivation.

METHOD

Hospital discharges among people aged 0-74 years for the years 1989-98 were classified as 'potentially avoidable' or 'unavoidable' based on the ICD9-CMA code of the principal diagnosis. Potentially avoidable hospitalisations (PAH) were further subcategorised according to the intervention involved--primary prevention, ambulatory care or injury prevention.

RESULTS

By 1998, one in three of these hospitalisations was theoretically avoidable--two-thirds of these through more effective primary health care services. Although in practice only a proportion of these could realistically have been avoided, these estimates reveal considerable scope for further reduction in the incidence of serious disease and injury. Maori and Pacific people had age-standardised PAH rates approximately 60% higher than European and other New Zealanders. Similar discrepancies exist by socio-economic deprivation. Had all New Zealanders enjoyed the PAH rates of the most advantaged 40% of the population, 28% fewer potentially avoidable hospitalisations would have occurred in 1998, some 26,000 hospital admissions.

CONCLUSION

This analysis has revealed significant scope for the health sector to contribute to population health gain and, in particular, to improvement in equity of outcomes across ethnic and socio-economic groups. Potentially avoidable hospitalisations provide a useful tool for evidence-based population health needs analysis and health policy development.

Avoidable mortality in New Zealand, 1981-97

OBJECTIVE

To describe avoidable mortality in New Zealand, including trends and variations between groups by age, gender, ethnicity and degree of deprivation.

METHOD

New Zealand Health Information Service mortality unit records, 1981 to 1997, were classified as 'avoidable' or 'unavoidable' based on a reassessment of ICD9 codes and an upper age limit of 75 years. 'Avoidable' causes of death were further subcategorised according to the level of intervention involved (primary, secondary or tertiary). Deaths were assigned a deprivation score using a Census-based small area deprivation index, the NZDep96. Mortality rates were age standardised by the direct method, with Segi's world population as the reference.

RESULTS

Avoidable mortality declined 38% from 1981 to 1997; unavoidable mortality declined only 9%. In 1996-97 almost 70% of deaths in the 0-74 age range were still considered to be potentially avoidable. Almost 80% of avoidable deaths occur in the 45-74 age group. These deaths are dominated by the emergence of chronic diseases such as ischaemic heart disease, diabetes and smoking-related cancers. In younger age groups, injury (including suicide) dominates avoidable mortality. Males experience a greater burden of avoidable mortality than females--a relative excess of 54% (approximately 2,000) in 1996-97. The gender difference is largely attributable to diseases and injuries amenable to primary prevention, with the largest single contribution coming from ischaemic heart disease. The ethnic gap in avoidable mortality remains wide: rates for Mäori and Pacific people were 2-2 1/2 times higher than European rates in 1996-97. Similar gradients are seen with deprivation.

CONCLUSION AND IMPLICATIONS

Avoidable mortality analysis provides a useful tool for evidence-based health needs assessment and health policy development.