Why is Mortality Low among the Swedish-Speaking Minority in Finland?

Abstract

Life expectancy has been substantially longer among the Swedish-speaking Finns than in the rest of the population. The relative mortality difference appears to be particularly marked among the middle-aged. This study examines the possible reasons for this mortality difference. The mortality advantage of the Swedish-speaking Finns is connected with their more favorable geographic location and socioeconomic position. For women these factors explain all of the mortality difference but among men two-thirds of the original difference, a 20% excess mortality of the Finnish-speaking majority, persists after adjusting for the structural differences. In men, the main part of the mortality difference results from factors responsible for excess mortality of the Finnish-speaking population from cardiovascular diseases and non-natural causes of death. A similar mortality contrast is seen in women as well, but it is compensated by other causes of death which are more common among Swedish-speaking than among Finnish-speaking women.