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Childhood misery and disease in later life : The effects on mortality in old age of hazards experienced in early life, southern Sweden, 1760-1894

Bengtsson, Tommy LU and Lindström, Martin LU (2000) In Population Studies 54(3). p.263-277
Abstract

This paper assesses the importance of early-life conditions relative to the prevailing conditions for mortality by cause of death in later life using historical data for four rural parishes in southern Sweden for which both demographic and economic data are very good. Longitudinal demographic data for individuals are combined with household socio-economic data and community data on food costs and the disease load using a Cox regression framework. We find strong support for the hypothesis that the disease load experienced during the first year of life has a strong impact on mortality in later life, in particular on the outcome of airborne infectious diseases. Hypotheses about the effects of the disease load on mothers during pregnancy... (More)

This paper assesses the importance of early-life conditions relative to the prevailing conditions for mortality by cause of death in later life using historical data for four rural parishes in southern Sweden for which both demographic and economic data are very good. Longitudinal demographic data for individuals are combined with household socio-economic data and community data on food costs and the disease load using a Cox regression framework. We find strong support for the hypothesis that the disease load experienced during the first year of life has a strong impact on mortality in later life, in particular on the outcome of airborne infectious diseases. Hypotheses about the effects of the disease load on mothers during pregnancy and access to nutrition during first years of life are not supported. Contemporary short-term economic stress on the elderly was generally of limited importance although mortality varied by socio-economic group.

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author
and
organization
publishing date
type
Contribution to journal
publication status
published
in
Population Studies
volume
54
issue
3
pages
15 pages
publisher
Routledge
external identifiers
  • scopus:0034451453
  • pmid:11640213
ISSN
0032-4728
DOI
10.1080/713779096
language
English
LU publication?
yes
id
ec91221a-fa72-4f2c-b919-d5a162200df9
date added to LUP
2018-08-17 09:06:51
date last changed
2024-06-10 16:07:20
@article{ec91221a-fa72-4f2c-b919-d5a162200df9,
  abstract     = {{<p>This paper assesses the importance of early-life conditions relative to the prevailing conditions for mortality by cause of death in later life using historical data for four rural parishes in southern Sweden for which both demographic and economic data are very good. Longitudinal demographic data for individuals are combined with household socio-economic data and community data on food costs and the disease load using a Cox regression framework. We find strong support for the hypothesis that the disease load experienced during the first year of life has a strong impact on mortality in later life, in particular on the outcome of airborne infectious diseases. Hypotheses about the effects of the disease load on mothers during pregnancy and access to nutrition during first years of life are not supported. Contemporary short-term economic stress on the elderly was generally of limited importance although mortality varied by socio-economic group.</p>}},
  author       = {{Bengtsson, Tommy and Lindström, Martin}},
  issn         = {{0032-4728}},
  language     = {{eng}},
  month        = {{01}},
  number       = {{3}},
  pages        = {{263--277}},
  publisher    = {{Routledge}},
  series       = {{Population Studies}},
  title        = {{Childhood misery and disease in later life : The effects on mortality in old age of hazards experienced in early life, southern Sweden, 1760-1894}},
  url          = {{http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/713779096}},
  doi          = {{10.1080/713779096}},
  volume       = {{54}},
  year         = {{2000}},
}