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Premature Deaths among Men in a Swedish Municipality—Social Characteristics Prior to Death

Developmental Unit, County Council of Dalarna, S-791 42 Falun

Bengt Mattsson

Mariehems Primary Health Care Centre, S-90187 Umeå

Premature deaths among 91 men in a Swedish municipality were analyzed regarding social class, immigrant status and their contacts with the Social Services because of alcohol abuse. Unskilled manual workers were overrepresented (54% versus 28% in an age-adjusted male reference group) and self-employed (other than professionals) were under-represented (4% versus 15%). The job situation was, however, rather stable and low unemployment (1%) was at hand. The proportion of men born in Finland was high (20%). All men in this group belonged to the lowest social class. Single men (ummarried or divorced) were overrepresented compared to the Swedish group (72% versus 40%). Cardio-vascular disease was a common cause of death among the Finnish men (56% versus 36%). Combining medical and social data revealed alcohol abuse among 40% of the 91 men (50% among the Finnish and 37% among the Swedish men). The most complete information was given by the primary health care records where 89% with alcohol abuse were identified, which is a high proportion compared to other studies. Only 28% were considered to have alcohol abuse according to the Social Services.

Key Words: Premature deaths • alcoholism • social class • immigrant status

Scandinavian Journal of Public Health, Vol. 19, No. 3, 181-186 (1991)
DOI: 10.1177/140349489101900307


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