Inequalities and chronic kidney disease: findings from the italian atlas of mortality inequalities by education level

Abstract

The findings of the study are taken from the Atlas of Mortality Inequalities, which is the result of the scientific collaboration between the National Institute for Health, Migration and Poverty (INMP) and the Italian National Institute of Statistics (Istat). This Atlas has a longitudinal study design of the population enrolled in the 2011 Census and includes the changes of the population over time by registering any exit due to death or emigration. The following outcomes were calculated: 1) provincial maps showing for each cause of death the distribution in quintiles of smoothed standardized mortality rate (SMR), adjusted for age and education level; 2) regional maps of population attributable fraction (PAF) for low and medium education levels, calculated starting from age-standardised mortality ratios; 3) tables illustrating for each region the mortality rates and standardised years of life lost by age; mortality rate ratios standardised by age. Our study evaluated the geographical and socioeconomic differences in mortality due to diseases of kidney and urethra, using maps and indicators. Excess mortality for diseases of kidney and urethra were found in all the southern regions (24% of women and 18% of men), with a marked north-south gradient. The PAF for diseases of kidney and urethra are generally low among men, while, among women, PAF over 25% were found in the South and the Islands, in Toscana, Umbria, Piemonte and Bolzano. (Epidemiology_statistics)