ArticleJournal of epidemiology and community health2021
Deaths from 'diseases of despair' in Britain: comparing suicide, alcohol-related and drug-related mortality for birth cohorts in Scotland, England and Wales, and selected cities.
Article in Journal of epidemiology and community health, 2021. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 27 papers.
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Who cites it
27 citing papers in PubMed.
- Why Life Gets Better after Age 50, for Some: Mental Well-Being and the Social Norm of Work.Journal of labor economics · 2026Article
- Longer residence in disadvantaged neighborhoods predicts both a syndrome of despair and deaths of despair: Complementary evidence from nationwide register and birth-cohort studies.Clinical psychological science : a journal of the Association for Psychological Science · 2026Article
- Qualitative evidence for the determinants of deaths of despair: a scoping review.BMC public health · 2026Article
- Deaths of despair in England, 2014-2022: trends by sex and socioeconomic deprivation before and after COVID-19.International journal of public health · 2026Article
- Moralisation, stigmatisation, and downstream interventions: How symbolic violence sustains geographic inequalities in deaths of despair in England.Social science & medicine (1982) · 2025Article
- Socioeconomic deprivation and postoperative mortality: a retrospective analysis of prospectively collected data.BJA open · 2025Article
- Patterns and characteristics of 'calls of despair': a service evaluation using Yorkshire Ambulance Service data.British paramedic journal · 2025Article
- Age, period and cohort trends in hospital admissions for alcohol-related liver disease in Australia, 1993-2020.Drug and alcohol review · 2025Article
- A new era of inequality: profound changes to mortality in England, Scotland, and 10 major British cities.European journal of public health · 2025Article
- Age, period, and cohort trends of substance poisoning, alcohol-related disease, and suicide deaths in Australia, 1980-2019.Social psychiatry and psychiatric epidemiology · 2025Observational
- The declining mental health of the young and the global disappearance of the unhappiness hump shape in age.PloS one · 2025Article
- "They pulled that funding away and we're not recovering. it's getting worse": deaths of despair in post-austerity north east England.International journal for equity in health · 2024Article
- "They're not mentally ill, their lives are just shit": Stakeholders' understanding of deaths of despair in a deindustrialised community in North East England.Health & place · 2024Article
- A deathly silence: why has the number of people found decomposed in England and Wales been rising?Journal of the Royal Society of Medicine · 2024Article
- Tracing the origins of midlife despair: association of psychopathology during adolescence with a syndrome of despair-related maladies at midlife.Psychological medicine · 2023Article
- Trends in cause-specific mortality: deaths of despair in Spain, 1980-2019.Journal of public health (Oxford, England) · 2023Article
- Comparing trends in mid-life 'deaths of despair' in the USA, Canada and UK, 2001-2019: is the USA an anomaly?BMJ open · 2023Article
- The public health implications of the cost-of-living crisis: outlining mechanisms and modelling consequences.The Lancet regional health. Europe · 2023Review
- Measuring the suicidal mind: The 'open source' Suicidality Scale, for adolescents and adults.PloS one · 2023Review
- When experts disagree: interviews with public health experts on health outcomes in the UK 2010-2020.Public health · 2023Article
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
6 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
backgroundThe contribution of increasing numbers of deaths from suicide, alcohol-related and drug-related causes to changes in overall mortality rates has been highlighted in various countries. In Scotland, particular vulnerable cohorts have been shown to be most at risk; however, it is unclear to what extent this applies elsewhere in Britain. The aim here was to compare mortality rates for different birth cohorts between Scotland and England and Wales (E&W), including key cities.
methodsMortality and population data (1981-2017) for Scotland, E&W and 10 cities were obtained from national statistical agencies. Ten-year birth cohorts and cohort-specific mortality rates (by age of death, sex, cause) were derived and compared between countries and cities.
resultsSimilarities were observed between countries and cities in terms of peak ages of death, and the cohorts with the highest death rates. However, cohort-specific rates were notably higher in Scotland, particularly for alcohol-related and drug-related deaths. Across countries and cities, those born in 1965-1974 and 1975-1984 had the highest drug-related mortality rates (peak age at death: 30-34 years); the 1965-1974 birth cohort also had the highest male suicide rate (peak age: 40-44 years). For alcohol-related causes, the highest rates were among earlier cohorts (1935-1944, 1945-1954, 1955-1964)-peak age 60-64 years.
conclusionsThe overall similarities suggest common underlying influences across Britain; however, their effects have been greatest in Scotland, confirming greater vulnerability among that population. In addressing the socioeconomic drivers of deaths from these causes, the cohorts identified here as being at greatest risk require particular attention.
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