Life expectancy of different ethnic groups using death records linked to population census data for 4.62 million people in Scotland

Laurence Gruer, Geneviève Cézard, Esta Clark, Anne Douglas, Markus Steiner, Andrew Millard, Duncan Buchanan, Srinivasa Vittal Katikireddi, Aziz Sheikh, Raj Bhopal

    Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

    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.
    Original languageEnglish
    Pages (from-to)1251-1254
    Number of pages4
    JournalJournal of Epidemiology and Community Health
    Volume70
    DOIs
    Publication statusPublished - 29 Jul 2016

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