Evidence map›Paper›PMID 34344367›Full record

ArticleInternational journal for equity in health2021

Inequalities in life expectancy in Australia according to education level: a whole-of-population record linkage study.

J Welsh, K Bishop, H Booth, D Butler, M Gourley, H D Law, E Banks, V Canudas-Romo, R J Korda

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Article in International journal for equity in health, 2021. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 9 papers.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
9citing papers in PubMed
–field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

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Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

9 citing papers in PubMed.

  1. Article
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  9. Social Determinants of Remaining Life Expectancy at Age 60: A District-Level Analysis in Germany.International journal of environmental research and public health · 2022
    Article
4 · The record

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PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

9 authors.

J WelshResearch School of Population Health, Australian National University, Building 62, Mills Rd, ACT, 2601, Acton, Australia. Jennifer.Welsh@anu.edu.au.
K BishopResearch School of Population Health, Australian National University, Building 62, Mills Rd, ACT, 2601, Acton, Australia.
H BoothSchool of Demography, Australian National University, Acton, Australia.
D ButlerResearch School of Population Health, Australian National University, Building 62, Mills Rd, ACT, 2601, Acton, Australia.
M GourleyAustralian Institute of Health and Welfare, Canberra, Australia.
H D LawResearch School of Population Health, Australian National University, Building 62, Mills Rd, ACT, 2601, Acton, Australia.
E BanksResearch School of Population Health, Australian National University, Building 62, Mills Rd, ACT, 2601, Acton, Australia.
V Canudas-RomoSchool of Demography, Australian National University, Acton, Australia.
R J KordaResearch School of Population Health, Australian National University, Building 62, Mills Rd, ACT, 2601, Acton, Australia.

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

backgroundLife expectancy in Australia is amongst the highest globally, but national estimates mask within-country inequalities. To monitor socioeconomic inequalities in health, many high-income countries routinely report life expectancy by education level. However in Australia, education-related gaps in life expectancy are not routinely reported because, until recently, the data required to produce these estimates have not been available. Using newly linked, whole-of-population data, we estimated education-related inequalities in adult life expectancy in Australia.

methodsUsing data from 2016 Australian Census linked to 2016-17 Death Registrations, we estimated age-sex-education-specific mortality rates and used standard life table methodology to calculate life expectancy. For men and women separately, we estimated absolute (in years) and relative (ratios) differences in life expectancy at ages 25, 45, 65 and 85 years according to education level (measured in five categories, from university qualification [highest] to no formal qualifications [lowest]).

resultsData came from 14,565,910 Australian residents aged 25 years and older. At each age, those with lower levels of education had lower life expectancies. For men, the gap (highest vs. lowest level of education) was 9.1 (95 %CI: 8.8, 9.4) years at age 25, 7.3 (7.1, 7.5) years at age 45, 4.9 (4.7, 5.1) years at age 65 and 1.9 (1.8, 2.1) years at age 85. For women, the gap was 5.5 (5.1, 5.9) years at age 25, 4.7 (4.4, 5.0) years at age 45, 3.3 (3.1, 3.5) years at 65 and 1.6 (1.4, 1.8) years at age 85. Relative differences (comparing highest education level with each of the other levels) were larger for men than women and increased with age, but overall, revealed a 10-25 % reduction in life expectancy for those with the lowest compared to the highest education level.

conclusionsEducation-related inequalities in life expectancy from age 25 years in Australia are substantial, particularly for men. Those with the lowest education level have a life expectancy equivalent to the national average 15-20 years ago. These vast gaps indicate large potential for further gains in life expectancy at the national level and continuing opportunities to improve health equity.

Indexed as

Educational StatusHealth Status DisparitiesLife ExpectancyAdultAgedAged, 80 and overAustraliaFemaleHumansMaleMedical Record LinkageMiddle AgedEducationInequalitiesLife expectancyMortalityRecord linkageSocioeconomic

Identifiers

PMID34344367
PMCPMC8330008

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Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.