OBJECTIVES Inequalities in life expectancy between the most and least materially deprived areas in the province of Quebec, Canada are increasing, but the reasons for this trend are unclear. An analysis of which causes of death, in which age groups, are implicated in this trend is necessary to understand it and provide clear targets for intervention. METHODS We analyzed Quebec mortality data f...

Parental awareness of risk factors for sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS) and infant care practices were compared in an area of relative deprivation and one of relative affluence in Cardiff. Awareness was high in both areas. More infants slept on the side in the deprived area (p < 0.02). One in three babies was exposed to cigarette smoking, significantly more in the deprived area (p < 0.001). ...

Many cities in the Global South are facing rapid population and slum growth, but lack detailed information to target these issues. Frequently, municipal datasets on such areas do not keep up with such dynamics, with data that are incomplete, inconsistent, and outdated. Aggregated census-based statistics refer to large and heterogeneous areas, hiding internal spatial differences. In recent years...

BACKGROUND Road traffic casualties show some of the widest socioeconomic differentials of any cause of morbidity or mortality, and as yet there is little evidence on what works to reduce them. This study quantified the current and potential future impact of the introduction of 20 mph zones on socioeconomic inequalities in road casualties in London. METHODS An observational study based on anal...

The Scottish Cancer Pathways partnership between Macmillan Cancer Support and NHS Scotland’s Information Services Division (ISD) investigated the relationship between net survival and deprivation in the twenty most common cancers in Scotland. Cancer types were identified for further investigation due to significant variation in survival between people living in the most deprived areas (Scottish...

BACKGROUND Recent work in a number of countries has identified growing geographical inequalities in health between deprived and non-deprived neighbourhoods. The health gaps observed cannot be entirely explained by differences in the characteristics of individuals living in those neighbourhoods, which has led to a concerted international public health research effort to determine what contextual...

Aims and method To investigate whether socioeconomic status influenced rates of depot medication prescribing, polypharmacy (more than two psychotropic medications), newer (second-generation) antipsychotic prescribing and clozapine therapy. Postcodes, Scottish Index of Multiple Deprivation (SIMD) categories and current medication status were ascertained. Patients in the most deprived SIMD groups...

BACKGROUND Hypertension is a common major risk factor for stroke and coronary heart disease. Little is known about how achievement of financially incentivised and non-incentivised indicators of quality of care varies with deprivation, or about the effect of financial incentives on health inequalities in hypertension. General practices in the UK have received financial incentives for high qualit...

In their recent paper, Jean Adams and Martin White1 make the observation that electoral wards in north-east England with low aggregate measures of education, employment or income generally have shorter straight-line distances to a general practice. They conclude that ‘more deprived areas tend to be better served by health services in terms of geographical proximity to general practices’ (p. 81)...