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. 2014 Jan 1;31(1):127-145.
doi: 10.1080/0376835X.2013.853611.

Mortality in South Africa - socioeconomic profile and association with self-reported health

Cally Ardington  1 , Boingotlo Gasealahwe  2
Affiliations

Mortality in South Africa - socioeconomic profile and association with self-reported health

Cally Ardington et al. Dev South Afr. .

Abstract

This paper exploits the first two waves of NIDS to describe the socioeconomic profile of mortality and to assess whether self-rated health status is predictive of mortality between waves. Mortality rates in NIDS are in line with estimates from official death notification data and display the expected hump of excess mortality in early and middle adulthood due to AIDS, with the excess peaking earlier for women than for men. We find evidence of a socioeconomic gradient in mortality with higher rates of mortality for individuals from asset poor households and with lower levels of education. Consistent with evidence from many industrialized countries and a few developing countries, we find self-rated health to be a significant predictor of two year mortality, an association that remains after controlling for socioeconomic status and several other subjective and objective measures of health.

Keywords: mortality; self-rated health.

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Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Age distribution of Wave 1 respondents by Wave 2 vital status and log-odds of dying by age at Wave 1
Figure 2
Figure 2
Years of education by age and vital status at Wave 2
Figure 3
Figure 3
Self reports of poor or fair health by age and vital status at Wave 2
See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

    1. Ardington C, Case A. Health: Analysis of the NIDS Wave 1 Dataset. NIDS, University of Cape Town; 2009. Discussion Paper No. 2.
    1. Ardington C, Gasealahwe B. Health Analysis of the NIDS Wave1 and 2 Datasets. University of Cape Town; 2012. SALDRU Working Paper Number 80/ NIDS Discussion Paper 2012/3.
    1. Ardington C, Barnighausen T, Case A, Menendez A. Economic consequences of death in South Africa. University of Cape Town; 2012. SALDRU Working Paper No. 91.
    1. Benyamini Y, Blumstein T, Lusky A, Modan B. Gender Differences in the Self-Rated Health–Mortality Association: Is It Poor Self-Rated Health That Predicts Mortality or Excellent Self-Rated Health That Predicts Survival? The Gerontologist. 2003;43(3):396–405. - PubMed
    1. Burström B, Fredlund P. Self rated health: Is it as good a predictor of subsequent mortality among adults in lower as well as in higher social classes? Journal of Epidemiology and Community Health. 2001;55:836–840. - PMC - PubMed

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