STUDY OBJECTIVE The objective of this study was to evaluate the magnitude and contributory factors of socioeconomic differentials in mortality in a cohort of Korean male civil servants. DESIGN A prospective observational study of male civil servants followed up for five years after baseline measurement. SETTING All civil service offices in Korea. PARTICIPANTS AND MEASUREMENTS The study wa...

BACKGROUND Avoidable mortality is a measure of deaths that potentially could have been averted through effective prevention practices, public health policies, and/or provision of timely and adequate health care. This longitudinal analysis compares avoidable mortality among First Nations and non-Aboriginal adults. DATA AND METHODS Data are from the 1991-to-2006 Canadian Census Mortality and Ca...

Investments in the extension of health insurance coverage, the strengthening of public health services, as well as primary care and better hospitals, highlights the emerging role of healthcare as part of China’s new growth regime, based on an expansion of services, and redistributive policies. Such investments, apart from their central role in terms of relief for low-income people, serve to reb...

OBJECTIVES To measure variations in the Holland and Charlton classifications of avoidable death causes and to estimate the effect of the Spanish national health system on avoidable mortality. DESIGN Mortality in the Valencian Community was assessed between 1975 and 1990. The classifications of Holland and Charlton, used to assess avoidable causes of death, were compared. Holland's classificat...

To evaluate the achievement of health care services in Korea independent of other socioeconomic factors, we observed the time trend of avoidable death between 1983 and 2004. A list of avoidable causes of death was constructed based on the European Community Atlas of "Avoidable Death". We calculated sex- and age-standardized mortality rates of Korean aged 1-64 yr using data of the Korea National...

The decline in Avoidable Mortality (AM) and increase in life expectancy in Shanghai is impressive. Gusmano and colleagues suggested that Shanghai’s improved health system has contributed significantly to this decline in AM. However, when compared to other global cities, Shanghai’s life expectancy at birth is improving as London and New York City, but has yet to surpass that of Hong Kong, Tokyo,...

STUDY OBJECTIVE The aim was to analyse trends in "avoidable" mortality in Sweden, and to contribute to the methodology of avoidable mortality as an index of the quality of care. SETTING AND PARTICIPANTS All deaths of Swedish citizens and other residents in Sweden during the period 1974-1985 were analysed as to causes of death between ages 0 and 64 years. MEASUREMENTS AND MAIN RESULTS Total ...

BACKGROUND In many middle-income countries, there is limited data available to evaluate the effectiveness of non-communicable disease (NCD) programmes. Since 1970, three neighbouring middle-income countries-Argentina, Chile and Uruguay-have undergone health sector reforms and reorganized their NCD programmes. In this paper, we explore whether data on premature adult mortality can be used to gau...

STUDY OBJECTIVE The aim was to determine the number of years that could be gained by preventing avoidable deaths. DESIGN The study arose from the concept of avoidable causes of death and life expectancy at birth. Four abbreviated life tables were computed. The first included all causes of death; the second excluded all avoidable causes of death; the third and fourth excluded respectively prim...

The paper published in the January 2015 issue of this journal by Gusmano and colleagues entitled “Shanghai rising: health improvements as measured by avoidable mortality since 2000” has spurred this commentary. We discuss controversial issues surrounding the concept of avoidable mortality in health service research in general and Gusmano’s study in particular. The impact of overall social devel...