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Educational inequalities in mortality associated with rheumatoid arthritis and other musculoskeletal disorders in Sweden

Kiadaliri, Aliasghar A LU orcid ; Petersson, Ingemar F LU and Englund, Martin LU orcid (2019) In BMC Musculoskeletal Disorders 20(1).
Abstract

BACKGROUND: Musculoskeletal (MSK) disorders are less likely to be reported as an underlying cause of death (UCD) and since cause of death studies are generally limited to the UCD, little is known about socioeconomic inequalities in MSK disorders as cause of death in the general population. Using multiple-cause-of-death data, we aimed to quantify and compare educational inequalities in musculoskeletal (MSK) disorders- with non-MSK disorders-related mortality.

METHODS: All residents aged 30-99 years in the Skåne region, Sweden, during 1998-2013 (n = 999,148) were followed until their 100th birthday, death, relocation outside Skåne, or end of 2014. We identified any mention of rheumatoid arthritis (RA) or other MSK disorders on death... (More)

BACKGROUND: Musculoskeletal (MSK) disorders are less likely to be reported as an underlying cause of death (UCD) and since cause of death studies are generally limited to the UCD, little is known about socioeconomic inequalities in MSK disorders as cause of death in the general population. Using multiple-cause-of-death data, we aimed to quantify and compare educational inequalities in musculoskeletal (MSK) disorders- with non-MSK disorders-related mortality.

METHODS: All residents aged 30-99 years in the Skåne region, Sweden, during 1998-2013 (n = 999,148) were followed until their 100th birthday, death, relocation outside Skåne, or end of 2014. We identified any mention of rheumatoid arthritis (RA) or other MSK disorders on death certificates using multiple-cause-of-death data. We retrieved and linked individual-level data from Statistics Sweden on highest level of education. We used Cox regression and additive hazards models with age as time-scale adjusted for sex, marital status, and country of birth to calculate slope and relative indices of inequality (SII/RII).

RESULTS: During a mean follow-up of 12.2 years, there were 1407 (0.8% of all deaths) and 3725 (2.1% of all deaths) death certificates with mention of RA and other MSK disorders, respectively, and 171,798 death certificates without any mention of a MSK disorder. Age-standardized RA mortality rate was 2.2 (95% confidence interval [CI]: 2.0-2.8) times greater in people with 0-9 years of education compared with those with > 12 years of education. Corresponding figure for other MSK disorders was 1.5 (95% CI: 1.4-1.6). Both RIIs and SIIs revealed statistically significant educational inequalities in RA/other MSK disorders mortality favouring high-educated people. The RIIs of MSK disorders-related deaths were generally greater than non-MSK disorders-related deaths.

CONCLUSION: We found substantial educational inequality in mortality from MSK disorders. Further research is needed to investigate underlying pathways driving these inequalities.

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Please use this url to cite or link to this publication:
author
; and
organization
publishing date
type
Contribution to journal
publication status
published
subject
in
BMC Musculoskeletal Disorders
volume
20
issue
1
pages
6 pages
publisher
BioMed Central (BMC)
external identifiers
  • pmid:30777043
  • scopus:85061855192
ISSN
1471-2474
DOI
10.1186/s12891-019-2465-8
project
Socioeconomic inequalities in musculoskeletal disorders burden
language
English
LU publication?
yes
id
6be4da5e-893c-4a29-ab06-b83d757c3b4d
date added to LUP
2019-02-21 11:52:03
date last changed
2024-04-30 01:22:00
@article{6be4da5e-893c-4a29-ab06-b83d757c3b4d,
  abstract     = {{<p>BACKGROUND: Musculoskeletal (MSK) disorders are less likely to be reported as an underlying cause of death (UCD) and since cause of death studies are generally limited to the UCD, little is known about socioeconomic inequalities in MSK disorders as cause of death in the general population. Using multiple-cause-of-death data, we aimed to quantify and compare educational inequalities in musculoskeletal (MSK) disorders- with non-MSK disorders-related mortality.</p><p>METHODS: All residents aged 30-99 years in the Skåne region, Sweden, during 1998-2013 (n = 999,148) were followed until their 100th birthday, death, relocation outside Skåne, or end of 2014. We identified any mention of rheumatoid arthritis (RA) or other MSK disorders on death certificates using multiple-cause-of-death data. We retrieved and linked individual-level data from Statistics Sweden on highest level of education. We used Cox regression and additive hazards models with age as time-scale adjusted for sex, marital status, and country of birth to calculate slope and relative indices of inequality (SII/RII).</p><p>RESULTS: During a mean follow-up of 12.2 years, there were 1407 (0.8% of all deaths) and 3725 (2.1% of all deaths) death certificates with mention of RA and other MSK disorders, respectively, and 171,798 death certificates without any mention of a MSK disorder. Age-standardized RA mortality rate was 2.2 (95% confidence interval [CI]: 2.0-2.8) times greater in people with 0-9 years of education compared with those with &gt; 12 years of education. Corresponding figure for other MSK disorders was 1.5 (95% CI: 1.4-1.6). Both RIIs and SIIs revealed statistically significant educational inequalities in RA/other MSK disorders mortality favouring high-educated people. The RIIs of MSK disorders-related deaths were generally greater than non-MSK disorders-related deaths.</p><p>CONCLUSION: We found substantial educational inequality in mortality from MSK disorders. Further research is needed to investigate underlying pathways driving these inequalities.</p>}},
  author       = {{Kiadaliri, Aliasghar A and Petersson, Ingemar F and Englund, Martin}},
  issn         = {{1471-2474}},
  language     = {{eng}},
  month        = {{02}},
  number       = {{1}},
  publisher    = {{BioMed Central (BMC)}},
  series       = {{BMC Musculoskeletal Disorders}},
  title        = {{Educational inequalities in mortality associated with rheumatoid arthritis and other musculoskeletal disorders in Sweden}},
  url          = {{http://dx.doi.org/10.1186/s12891-019-2465-8}},
  doi          = {{10.1186/s12891-019-2465-8}},
  volume       = {{20}},
  year         = {{2019}},
}