Life expectancy of different ethnic groups using death records linked to population census data for 4.62 million people in Scotland
Open Access
- 29 July 2016
- journal article
- research article
- Published by BMJ in Journal of Epidemiology and Community Health
- Vol. 70 (12), 1251-1254
- https://doi.org/10.1136/jech-2016-207426
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.Keywords
This publication has 19 references indexed in Scilit:
- Ethnic variations in five lower gastrointestinal diseases: Scottish Health and Ethnicity Linkage StudyBMJ Open, 2014
- Remigration of migrants with severe disease: myth or reality?—a register-based cohort studyEuropean Journal of Public Health, 2014
- What type of rural? Assessing the variations in life expectancy at birth at small area-level for a small population province using classes of locally defined settlement typesBMC Public Health, 2014
- A review of life expectancy and infant mortality estimations for Australian Aboriginal peopleBMC Public Health, 2014
- Change in Self-Reported Health Status among Immigrants in the United States: Associations with Measures of AcculturationPLOS ONE, 2013
- Life Expectancy at Birth for People with Serious Mental Illness and Other Major Disorders from a Secondary Mental Health Care Case Register in LondonPLOS ONE, 2011
- Do New Zealand's immigrants have a mortality advantage? Evidence from the New Zealand Census-Mortality StudyEthnicity & Health, 2010
- Cohort Profile: Scottish Health and Ethnicity Linkage Study of 4.65 million people exploring ethnic variations in disease in ScotlandInternational Journal of Epidemiology, 2010
- Inference by eye: Reading the overlap of independent confidence intervalsStatistics in Medicine, 2008
- Evaluation of methodologies for small area life expectancy estimationJournal of Epidemiology and Community Health, 2004