Life expectancy of different ethnic groups using death records linked to population census data for 4.62 million people in Scotland

Laurence Gruer*, Genevieve Cezard, Esta Clark, Anne Douglas, Markus Steiner, Andrew Millard, Duncan Buchanan, Srinivasa Vittal Katikireddi, Aziz Sheikh, Raj Bhopal

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

27 Citations (Scopus)
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Abstract

Background Few countries record the data needed to estimate life expectancy by ethnic group. Such information is helpful in assessing the extent of health inequality.

Method Life tables were created using 3 years of deaths (May 2001-April 2004) linked to Scottish 2001 Census data for 4.62 million individuals with self-reported ethnicity. We created 8 ethnic groups based on the census definitions, each with at least 5000 individuals and 40 deaths. Life expectancy at birth was calculated using the revised Chiang method.

Results The life expectancy of White Scottish males at birth was 74.7 years (95% CI 74.6 to 74.8), similar to Mixed Background (73.0; 70.2 to 75.8) and White Irish (75.0; 74.0 to 75.9), but shorter than Indian (80.9; 78.4 to 83.4), Pakistani (79.3; 76.9 to 81.6), Chinese (79.0; 76.5 to 81.5), Other White British (78.9; 78.6 to 79.2) and Other White (77.2; 76.4 to 78.1). The life expectancy of White Scottish females was 79.4 years (79.3 to 79.5), similar to mixed background (79.3; 76.6 to 82.0), but shorter than Pakistani (84.6; 82.0 to 87.3), Chinese (83.4; 81.1 to 85.7), Indian (83.3; 80.7 to 85.9), Other White British (82.6; 82.3 to 82.9), other White (82.0; 81.3 to 82.8) and White Irish (81; 80.2 to 81.8).

Conclusions Males and females in most of the larger ethnic minority groups in Scotland have longer life expectancies than the majority White Scottish population.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)1251-1254
Number of pages4
JournalJournal of Epidemiology and Community Health
Volume70
Issue number12
Early online date29 Jul 2016
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - Dec 2016

Keywords

  • IMMIGRANTS
  • MORTALITY
  • DISEASE
  • COHORT

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