SSM: Population Health (Mar 2021)

Determinants of educational inequalities in disability-free life expectancy between ages 35 and 80 in Europe

  • José Rubio Valverde,
  • Johan Mackenbach,
  • Matthias Bopp,
  • Henrik Brønnum-Hansen,
  • Patrick Deboosere,
  • Ramune Kalediene,
  • Katalin Kovács,
  • Mall Leinsalu,
  • Pekka Martikainen,
  • Enrique Regidor,
  • Bjørn Heine Strand,
  • Wilma Nusselder

Journal volume & issue
Vol. 13
p. 100740

Abstract

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Socioeconomic inequalities in disability-free life expectancy (DFLE) exist across all European countries, yet the driving determinants of these differences are not completely known. We calculated the impact on educational inequalities in DFLE of equalizing the distribution of eight risk factors for mortality and disability using register-based mortality data and survey data from 15 European countries for individuals between 35 and 80 years old. From the selected risk factors, the ones that contribute the most to the educational inequalities in DFLE are low income, high body-weight, smoking (for men), and manual occupation of the father. Potentially large reductions in inequalities can be achieved in Eastern European countries, where educational inequalities in DFLE are also the largest.

Keywords