Investigate Inequalities of Mortality Rates for Mid-Life in England and Wales Using GIS

Abstract

Premature mortalities have increased in Britain since the early 1970s because of the rising rate of socioeconomic inequalities. The trends in income inequalities and mortality differentials are not only consistent but also increasing rapidly (Davey Smith et al., 2002), For example, increasing inequalities have been linked to a large number of mortalities in the young male adult population. The trend suggests that specific health inequity is a considerable factor in the increasing mortality differentials observed in the mid-life adult population. This research aims to determine the inequalities for mortality rate between ages 30 to 64 by sex in England and Wales between 2013 and 2017, to explore the leading causes of deaths in this age group.

Furthermore, this research identifies areas required to investigate changes in the causes of mortality rate in mid-life adult population based on neighbourhood characteristics, as well as determines the relationships between the all-cause mortality rate in mid-life with socio-demographic factors to investigate further deprivations by age and the role of morbidity. Note that the utilised framework is based on a geo-demographic classification to determine the relationships between cause-specific mortality rate in mid-life with the Index of Multiple Deprivations (IMD) and other socioeconomic factors. IMD with trends in death rates based on clusters, and Hot Spot Analysis, has been used as part of the research methodology. Variables used for classification came from the literature review.

The datasets are standardised onto the same scale using Z-scores and then classified using cluster analysis. Each cluster composition was examined to highlight what areas changed due to inequalities for mortality rate in mid-life before comparing the results to explain the causes and factors that result in the variation in the number of deaths. Essentially, the research aims to analyse and uncover the spatial variation of health inequality and mortality in England and Wales, also to identify the causes and factors leading to death, with a view to addressing the issue. This research highlights the possibility for future work within the field, while also emphasising the need for more extensive data collection to improve the accuracy of the classification and conduct further research within the same topic or issue, while taking into consideration proposed individual systematisation and ethnicity.