Mortality Disparities in Appalachia: Reassessment of Major Risk Factors

Objective: To determine the predictive value of coal mining and other risk factors for explaining disproportionately high mortality rates across Appalachia. Method: Mortality and covariate data were obtained from publicly available databases for 2000 to 2004. Analysis employed ordinary least square...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Journal of occupational and environmental medicine 2012-02, Vol.54 (2), p.146-156
Main Authors: Borak, Jonathan, Salipante-Zaidel, Catherine, Slade, Martin D., Fields, Cheryl A.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Adult
Aged
Appalachian Region - epidemiology
Appalachian Region - ethnology
Biological and medical sciences
Coal
Coal mining
Coal Mining - statistics & numerical data
Continental Population Groups - statistics & numerical data
Culture
diabetes mellitus
Diabetes Mellitus - epidemiology
Economics
Environment. Living conditions
Environmental health
Ethnic groups
Female
Health Status Disparities
Households
Housing. Living conditions
Humans
Male
Medical sciences
Middle Aged
Mining
Mortality
Mortality - ethnology
Obesity - epidemiology
ORIGINAL ARTICLES
poverty
Poverty - statistics & numerical data
Public health. Hygiene
Public health. Hygiene-occupational medicine
Regression analysis
Risk Factors
Rural Population - statistics & numerical data
Smoking - epidemiology
Socioeconomic Factors
Young Adult
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Summary:Objective: To determine the predictive value of coal mining and other risk factors for explaining disproportionately high mortality rates across Appalachia. Method: Mortality and covariate data were obtained from publicly available databases for 2000 to 2004. Analysis employed ordinary least square multiple linear regression with age-adjusted mortality as the dependent variable. Results: Age-adjusted all-cause mortality was independently related to Poverty Rate, Median Household Income, Percent High School Graduates, Rural–Urban Location, Obesity, Sex, and Race/Ethnicity, but not Unemployment Rate, Percent Uninsured, Percent College Graduates, Physician Supply, Smoking, Diabetes, or Coal Mining. Conclusions: Coal mining is not per se an independent risk factor for increased mortality in Appalachia. Nevertheless, our results underscore the substantial economic and cultural disadvantages that adversely impact health in Appalachia, especially in the coal-mining areas of Central Appalachia.
ISSN:1076-2752
1536-5948
DOI:10.1097/JOM.0b013e318246f395