BMJ  2004;329 (18 September), doi:10.1136/bmj.329.7467.0

Socioeconomic condition does not affect mortality during winter

Elderly people are more likely to die during the winter, but being poor does not affect the risk of dying. In a population based study providing 119 389 person years of follow up in people age 75 or older, Wilkinson and colleagues (p 647) found that the risk of death, which was 7.8% higher during winter than other seasons, was higher for women and people with respiratory illnesses. They found no socioeconomic gradient related to mortality in winter.

Credit: SUSA/FOTEX/REX


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Relevant Article

Vulnerability to winter mortality in elderly people in Britain: population based study
Paul Wilkinson, Sam Pattenden, Ben Armstrong, Astrid Fletcher, R Sari Kovats, Punam Mangtani, and Anthony J McMichael
BMJ 2004 329: 647. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

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