The aftershock of deindustrialization—trends in mortality in Scotland and other parts of post-industrial Europe

Background: Post-industrial decline is frequently cited as one of the major underlying reasons behind the poor health profile of Scotland and, especially, West Central Scotland (WCS). This begs the question: to what extent is poor health a common outcome in other post-industrial regions and how does...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:European journal of public health 2010-02, Vol.20 (1), p.58-64
Main Authors: Walsh, David, Taulbut, Martin, Hanlon, Phil
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Adolescent
Adult
Aged
Child
Comparative analysis
Deindustrialization
Developed Countries
England
Europe
Europe - epidemiology
Female
Health Status
Humans
life expectancy
Life Expectancy - trends
Longevity
Male
Middle Aged
Mortality
Mortality - trends
Poor
Poverty
Public health
Regions
Scotland
Scotland - epidemiology
Statistics
Trends
Young Adult
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Summary:Background: Post-industrial decline is frequently cited as one of the major underlying reasons behind the poor health profile of Scotland and, especially, West Central Scotland (WCS). This begs the question: to what extent is poor health a common outcome in other post-industrial regions and how does Scotland's experience compare to these other comparable regions? Methods: Regions were identified by means of an expert-based consultation, backed up by analysis of regional industrial employment loss over the past 30 years. Mortality rates and related statistics were calculated from data obtained from national and regional statistical agencies. Results: Twenty candidate regions (in: Belgium; France; Germany; Netherlands; UK; Poland; Czech Republic) were identified, of which ten were selected for in-depth analyses. WCS mortality rates are generally higher and—crucially—appear to be improving at a slower rate than in the other post-industrial regions. This relatively poor rate of improvement is largely driven by mortality among the younger working age (especially male) and middle-aged female populations. Conclusion: WCS mortality trends compare badly with other, similar, post-industrial regions of Europe, including regions in Eastern Europe which tend to be characterized by higher levels of poverty. This finding challenges any simplistic explanation of WCS's poor health being caused by post-industrial decline alone, and begs the question as to what other factors may be at work.
ISSN:1101-1262
1464-360X
DOI:10.1093/eurpub/ckp063