The contribution of behavioural and metabolic risk factors to socioeconomic inequalities in mortality: the Italian Longitudinal Study

Trends in social inequality in mortality in Denmark 1995-2019: the contribution of smoking- and alcohol-related deaths

BACKGROUND

During the past decades, social inequality in mortality has increased in several countries, including Denmark. Modifiable risk factors, such as smoking and harmful alcohol consumption, have been suggested to moderate the association between socioeconomic position and health-related outcomes. The present study aims to investigate the contribution of smoking- and alcohol-related deaths to the trends in educational inequality in mortality in Denmark 1995-2019 among individuals aged 30-74 years.

METHODS

Nationwide data on mortality and highest attained educational level divided into quartiles were derived from administrative registers. Alcohol-related mortality was directly estimated using information on alcohol-related deaths from death certificates. Smoking-related mortality was indirectly estimated using the Peto-Lopez method. The contribution of smoking- and alcohol-related deaths to the social inequality gap in mortality 1995-2019 was calculated.

RESULTS

Alongside a decrease in all-cause mortality in Denmark 1995-2019, absolute differences in the mortality rate (per 100 000 person-year) between the lowest and the highest educational quartile increased from 494 to 607 among men and from 268 to 376 among women. Among both men and women, smoking- and alcohol-related deaths explained around 60% of the social inequality in mortality and around 50% of the increase in mortality inequality.

CONCLUSION

Smoking and harmful alcohol consumption continue to be important risk factors and causes of social inequality in mortality, with around half of the increase in Denmark 1995-2019 being attributable to smoking- and alcohol-related deaths. Future healthcare planning and policy development should aim at reducing social inequality in modifiable health risk behaviours and their negative consequences.

Cancer mortality associated with low education in Italy

BACKGROUND

This study provides a nationwide representative quantification of the impact of educational inequalities on cancer mortality in Italy.

METHODS

The study is based on prevalence data and mortality rate ratios according to levels of education obtained from the Italian 2011 census cohort, including >35 million individuals aged 30-74. We estimated the population attributable fraction (PAF) and the number of cancer deaths associated with low education (below university degree) in Italy by sex.

RESULTS

PAFs for low levels of education were 29.1% among men and 13.3% among women, corresponding to 22,271 cancer deaths associated with low education in men and 7456 in women in 2019. PAFs by cancer site in men were: 53.0% for upper aerodigestive tract (UADT), 44.6% for liver, 41.3% for stomach, 41.3% for lung, 37.0% for bladder, 18.5% for colorectal, 9.8% for prostate and 9.1% for pancreatic cancers. PAFs in women were: 44.5% for cervical, 36.1% for UADT, 34.9% for stomach and 13.9% for colorectal cancers. The cancer sites with the highest number of deaths associated with low education were lung among men (7902/22,271, 35.5%) and colorectum among women (780/7456, 10.5%).

CONCLUSIONS

About a quarter of cancer deaths in 2019 in Italy may be prevented by reducing the socioeconomic determinants that contribute to educational disparities in cancer mortality.

Education inequalities in cardiovascular and coronary heart disease in Italy and the role of behavioral and biological risk factors

BACKGROUND AND AIMS

Behavioral and biological risk factors (BBRF) explain part of the variability in socioeconomic differences in health. The present study aimed at evaluating education differences in incidence of cardiovascular disease (CVD) and coronary heart disease (CHD) in Italy and the role of BBRF.

METHODS AND RESULTS

All subjects aged 30-74 years (n = 132,686) who participated to the National Health Interview Surveys 2000 and 2005 were included and followed-up for ten years. Exposure to smoking, physical activity, overweight/obesity, diabetes and hypertension at baseline was considered. Education level was used as an indicator of socioeconomic status. The outcomes were incident cases of CVD and CHD. Hazard ratios by education level were estimated, adjusting for sociodemographic covariates and stratifying by sex and geographic area. The contribution of BBRF to education inequalities was estimated by counterfactual mediation analysis, in addition to the assessment of the risk attenuation by comparing the models including BBRF or not. 22,214 participants had a CVD event and 6173 a CHD event. After controlling for sociodemographic factors, the least educated men showed a 21% higher risk of CVD and a 17% higher risk of CHD compared to the most educated (41% and 61% among women). The mediating effect (natural indirect effect) of BBRF between extreme education levels was 52% for CVD and 84% for CHD among men (16% among women for CVD).

CONCLUSIONS

More effective strategies aiming at reducing socioeconomic disparities in CVD and CHD are needed, through programs targeting less educated people in combination with community-wide initiatives.

The Prevention Behaviors and Impact Mechanisms Among Different Chinese Social Classes at the Early Stage of COVID-19 Pandemic

Background

Whether the pandemic can be effectively prevented and controlled depends on the entire population’s adherence to recommendations and preventive behaviors. The present study aimed to investigate the social class differences and internal mechanisms of prevention behaviors in the COVID-19 pandemic.

Methods

We conducted an online cross-sectional survey among the general Chinese population at the early stage of the COVID-19 pandemic. The survey website’s subscribers could access the questionnaire through the Tencent online platform, and a total of 1948 participants voluntarily completed it. Most of the participants were female (n = 1257, 64.528%), between the ages of 18–29 (n = 999, 51.284%), university graduates (n = 1015, 52.105%), and had an annual family income below 100,000 yuan (n = 1119, 57.444%). The differences in COVID-19 prevention behaviors among different social classes, the mediating role of infectious threat perception and the moderating role of perceived epidemic transparency were examined.

Results

1) There were significant differences in prevention behaviors among different social classes. 2) The level of infectious threat perception played a mediating role in the relationship between social class and prevention behavior. When the individuals were from a lower social class, the level of threat perception and the level of COVID-19 prevention behaviors were also lower. 3) Perceived epidemic transparency played a moderating role in the relationship between social class and COVID-19 prevention behavior. It also played a moderating role in the relationship between social class and infectious threat perception.

Conclusion

In the implementation of epidemic prevention and control measures, different social classes should be targeted and guided differently. In particular, lower-class individuals can be guided by improving the perceptions of epidemic transparency and infectious threat.

Sports- and Physical Activity-Related Concussions, Binge Drinking and Marijuana Use among Adolescents: The Mediating Role of Depression and Suicidal Ideation

BACKGROUND

Although past studies have examined the adverse impact of sports- and physical activity-related concussions (SPACs) on health and mental health outcomes, there is a dearth of research investigating the association between SPACs and binge drinking and marijuana use.

OBJECTIVE

The objective of this study is to examine the cross-sectional association between SPACs and binge drinking and marijuana use among adolescents and whether symptoms of depression and suicidal ideation mediate this association.

METHODS

Data for this study came from the 2017 and 2019 National Youth Risk Behavior Survey. An analytic sample of 17,175 adolescents aged 14-18 years (50.2% male) was analyzed using binary logistic regression.

RESULTS

Of the 17,175 adolescents, 13.7% engaged in binge drinking and 19.3% used marijuana 30 days preceding the survey date. Approximately one in seven (14.1%) adolescents had SPACs during the past year. Upon controlling for the effects of other factors, adolescents who had SPACs had 1.74 times higher odds of engaging in binge drinking (AOR = 1.74, p<.001, 95% CI = 1.47-2.06) and 1.42 times higher odds of using marijuana (AOR = 1.42, p<.001, 95% CI = 1.24-1.62) than those who did not have SPACs. Symptoms of depression and suicidal ideation explained 12% of the association between SPACs and binge drinking, and 19% of the association between SPACs and marijuana use.

CONCLUSIONS

Understanding the association between SPACs and substance use and mental health could contribute to early identification of adolescents who may engage in substance use.

Occupational physical activity, mortality and CHD events in the Italian Longitudinal Study

Purpose

Several recent studies have suggested a ‘physical activity paradox’ whereby leisure-time physical activity benefits health, but occupational physical activity is harmful. However, other studies imply that occupational physical activity is beneficial. Using data from a nationally representative Italian sample, we investigate if the context, or domain, of physical activity matters for mortality and coronary heart disease (CHD) events.

Methods

Among 40,220 men and women aged 40–55 at baseline, we used Cox models to compare associations of occupational, domestic and leisure-time physical activity with risk of mortality and CHD events over a follow-up period of up to 14 years. We accounted for sociodemographic factors, smoking, body mass index (BMI), physical and mental health, and educational qualifications.

Results

Occupational physical activity was not significantly associated with risk of mortality or CHD events for women, or with CHD events for men. In crude models, risk of mortality was higher for men in the highest occupational activity group, compared to the lowest (HR 1.26, 95% CI 1.01, 1.57). This attenuated with adjustment for health-related behaviours, health, and education (HR 1.03, 95% CI 0.77, 1.38). In crude models, leisure-time physical activity was significantly associated with decreased mortality and CHD risk only for men. Domestic physical activity was not associated with either outcome for either gender.

Conclusion

In a large sample of middle-aged Italian workers, we found limited evidence of harmful or beneficial effects of occupational physical activity on mortality or CHD events. However, confidence intervals were wide, and results consistent with a range of effects in both directions.

Supplementary Information

The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1007/s00420-021-01765-0.

Disaggregation of official demographic projections in sub-groups by education level: the neglected “composition effect” in the future path of life expectancy

We developed an innovative method to break down official population forecasts by educational level. The mortality rates of the high education group and low education group were projected using an iterative procedure, whose starting point was the life tables by education level for Italy, based on the year 2012. We provide a set of different scenarios on the convergence/divergence of the mortality differential between the high and low education groups. In each scenario, the demographic size and the life expectancy of the two sub-groups were projected annually over the period 2018–2065. We compared the life expectancy paths in the whole population and in the sub-groups. We found that in all of our projections, population life expectancy converges to the life expectancy of the high education group. We call this feature of our outcomes the “composition effect”, and we show how highly persistent it is, even in scenarios where the mortality differential between social groups is assumed to decrease over time. In a midway scenario, where the mortality differential is assumed to follow an intermediate path between complete disappearance in year 2065 and stability at the 2012 level, and in all the scenarios with a milder convergence hypothesis, our “composition effect” prevails over the effect of convergence for men and women. For instance, assuming stability in the mortality differential, we estimated a life expectancy increase at age 65 of 2.9 and 2.6 years for men, and 3.2 and 3.1 for women, in the low and high education groups, respectively, over the whole projection period. Over the same period, Italian official projections estimate an increase of 3.7 years in life expectancy at age 65 for the whole population. Our results have relevant implications for retirement and ageing policies, in particular for those European countries that have linked statutory retirement age to variations in population life expectancies. In all the scenarios where the composition effect is not offset by a strong convergence of mortality differentials, we show that the statutory retirement age increases faster than the group-specific life expectancies, and this finding implies that the expected time spent in retirement will shrink for the whole population. This potential future outcome seems to be an unintended consequence of the indexation rule.

Educational inequalities in the prevalence and outcomes of diabetes in the Emilian Longitudinal Study

BACKGROUND AND AIM

Studies carried out in Italy in the last decades reported an effect modification in the association between socioeconomic position and diabetes outcomes, and the disease integrated care approach has been suggested as an explanatory factor. Whether this is true in Emilia-Romagna region in recent years is unknown and the aim of this study is to describe the role of educational level both on diabetes prevalence and health outcomes among the adult population with and without diabetes enrolled in the Emilian Longitudinal Study.

METHODS AND RESULTS

Inequalities in diabetes prevalence were evaluated through standardised estimates and prevalence ratios by educational level and inequalities in outcomes through standardised hospitalisation and mortality ratios and rate ratios by educational level. The lower the education the greater the diabetes prevalence; such differences were larger among women and younger age groups. Diabetes conferred a higher risk of hospitalisation and mortality; those outcomes also presented a social gradient with the less educated bearing the higher risk. However, educational differences were slightly stronger among the disease-free subjects, especially in the case of mortality. In both genders, inequalities tended to disappear with age.

CONCLUSION

This study confirms that diabetes increases the risk of unfavourable outcomes, but does not increase social inequalities in outcomes as might be expected. Similarly to what has been previously shown, it is likely that the protective effect of diabetes on the negative health effects of the low social position is attributable to the disease integrated care approach.

Incretin-based therapy and risk of cholangiocarcinoma: a nested case-control study in a population of subjects with type 2 diabetes

BACKGROUND AND AIMS

One cohort and several basic science studies have raised suspicion about an association between incretin therapies and cholangiocarcinoma. Our aim was to verify the occurrence of CC in relation to incretin-based medication use versus any antidiabetic treatment in an unselected population of diabetic patients.

METHODS

A population-based matched case-control study was conducted using administrative data from the Region of Piedmont (4,400,000 inhabitants), Italy. From a database of 312,323 patients treated with antidiabetic drugs, we identified 744 cases hospitalized for cholangiocarcinoma from 2010 to 2016 and 2976 controls matched for gender, age and initiation of antidiabetic therapy; cases and controls were compared for exposure to incretin-based medications. All analyses were adjusted for risk factors for CC, as ascertained by hospital discharge records. Odds ratios (ORs) and 95% confidence intervals (CIs) were calculated by fitting a conditional logistic model.

RESULTS

The mean age of the sampled population (cases and controls, 75 years) was very high, with no gender prevalence. Five per cent was treated with incretin-based medications. After adjusting for possible confounders, we found no increased risk of cholangiocarcinoma associated with the use of either DPP4i (OR 0.98, 95% CI 0.75-1.29: p = 0.89) or GLP-1-RA (OR 1.09, 95% CI 0.63-1.89; p = 0.76) in the 24 months before hospital admission. Neither the duration of the therapy nor the dose modified the risk of cholangiocarcinoma.

CONCLUSIONS

Our findings suggest that, in an unselected population, the use of both classes of incretin-based medications is not associated with an increased risk of cholangiocarcinoma.

Opportunistic screening for type 2 diabetes in community pharmacies. Results from a region-wide experience in Italy

Background and aims

Given the paucity of symptoms in the early stages of type 2 diabetes, its diagnosis is often made when complications have already arisen. Although systematic population-based screening is not recommended, there is room to experience new strategies for improving early diagnosis of the disease in high risk subjects. We report the results of an opportunistic screening for diabetes, implemented in the setting of community pharmacies.

Methods and results

To identify people at high risk to develop diabetes, pharmacists were trained to administer FINDRISC questionnaire to overweight, diabetes-free customers aged 45 or more. Each interviewee was followed for 365 days, searching in the administrative database whether he/she had a glycaemic or HbA1c test, or a diabetologists consultation, and to detect any new diagnosis of diabetes defined by either a prescription of any anti-hyperglycaemic drug, or the enrolment in the register of patients, or a hospital discharge with a diagnosis of diabetes.

Out of 5977 interviewees, 53% were at risk of developing diabetes. An elevated FINDRISC score was associated with higher age, lower education, and living alone. Excluding the number of cases expected, based on the incidence rate of diabetes in the population, 51 new cases were identified, one every 117 interviews. FINDRISC score, being a male and living alone were significantly associated with the diagnosis.

Conclusions

The implementation of a community pharmacy-based screening programme can contribute to reduce the burden of the disease, particularly focusing on people at higher risk, such as the elderly and the socially vulnerable.

Incidence of hospitalization and mortality in patients with diabetic foot regardless of amputation: a population study

AIMS

The aim of our study was to estimate the overall rate of first hospitalizations for diabetic foot (DF) regardless of the outcome in amputations, as well as the mortality rate with their determinants in the period 2012-2016 in Piedmont Region in Italy.

METHODS

The study included all the subjects registered in the Regional Diabetes Registry and alive as at January 1, 2012. DF cases were identified by record linkage with the regional hospital discharge database. Incident cases of diabetic foot were followed up for mortality.

RESULTS

The 5-year rates were 1762, 324, and 343 × 100,000 patients for first hospitalization without amputations, with major amputations, and with minor amputations, respectively. Patients not undergoing amputations were more than 70% of the cohort. Patients with the more severe stages of diabetes and those with low education were at higher risk of each type of hospitalization. The risk of death during a mean follow-up of 2.5 years was about 16, 18, and 30% among patients without amputations, with major amputations, and with minor amputations, respectively. Males, insulin-treated patients, those affected with severe diabetes complications, particularly on dialysis, and those with lower levels of education were at higher risk.

CONCLUSIONS

The heavier burden of DF on hospitalizations is due to cases without amputation, a condition that is seldom considered in the diabetes literature. The severity of diabetes, preexisting complications, and low educational levels are associated with both first hospitalization and subsequent survival at any level of severity of DF.