Socioeconomic differentials in selected causes of death

Abstract

The areal approach utilized in mortality analysis for cities in the past is argued to be fruitful for suburban mortality analysis as well. Through factor analysis of four Census Tract indicators, weighted scores were computed and socioeconomic groups were constructed for each central city and each suburban area for three selected metropolitan areas: Birmingham, AL, Buffalo, NY, and Indianapolis, IN. Mortality rates from Heart Diseases, Malignant Neoplasms, and All Other Causes of death were found to be inversely associated with socioeconomic status in both the central cities and the suburban communities of these selected metropolitan areas. Evidence points to increasing socioeconomic differentials between 1960 and 1970 especially for males for the central cities and for suburban rings in spite of reductions in mortality during this period.