J Prev Med Public Health.  2007 Jan;40(1):7-15. 10.3961/jpmph.2007.40.1.7.

The Proportional Mortality Ratios of Specific-cause Mortality by Occupation and Education among Men Aged 20-64 in Korea (1993-2004)

• Kim KH
• Lee KH
• Lee SM
• Lee SY
• Lee YS
• Lim KR
• Chang JE
• Cho SW
• Choi EH
• Chung ST
• Jin E
• Son M

• KMID: 792452
• DOI: http://doi.org/10.3961/jpmph.2007.40.1.7

Abstract

OBJECTIVES: This study investigated the relationship of occupational class and educational background with proportional mortality ratios in Korea. METHODS: Mortality was investigated using the entire registered death data from 1993 to 2004, obtained from the Korean National Statistics Office. Proportional mortality ratios (PMRs) for specific diseases were calculated according to the occupational class and educational background of men aged 20-64. RESULTS: Manual workers were found to have higher PMRs for liver disease and traffic accidents, as did the lower educated group. Especially, this study showed trends of an increasing of the wide gap between lower and higher socioeconomic stati for liver disease, traffic accidents, diabetes mellitus and cerebral vascular disease. The mortality for cerebrovascular disease, diabetes mellitus, heart disease, traffic accident and liver disease showed increasing trends according to the calendar year for the lower than the higher social class. CONCLUSIONS: The specific conditions that had higher PMRs in the Korean lower social class were liver disease and traffic accidents. Especially, there was an increasing trend for a widening of the gap between manual and nonmanual groups in relation to mortality from liver disease, diabetes mellitus and traffic accidents.

Keyword

Social class; Occupation; Education; Mortality; Proportional mortality ratio

MeSH Terms

Socioeconomic Factors
Odds Ratio
Occupations/*classification/statistics & numerical data
Middle Aged
Male
Liver Diseases/mortality
Korea/epidemiology
Humans
*Educational Status
Diabetes Mellitus/mortality
Cerebrovascular Disorders/mortality
Cause of Death/*trends
Adult
Accidents, Traffic/mortality