DEATH DISPARITY: Going to college may increase life span. A recent study shows a link between the risk of dying and years spent in the classroom.

Americans with less than a high school education had higher overall death rates than those with at least four years of college. In fact, the rate of death for people without a high school diploma increased from 1993 to 2001. Conversely, for those with a college degree, the death rate dropped.

Education Matters

Even though medical technology continues to improve in the United States, Americans with less education seem to be suffering.

The death rate among highly educated Americans aged 25 to 64 dropped dramatically between 1993 and 2001, according to a new study published in the online research journal, PloS ONE. But for those without a high school diploma, the death rate seems to be getting worse.

The research, funded by the American Cancer Society, included all causes of death, and found the following:

• White women who hadn’t finished high school showed a 3.2% mean annual increase in death rates.
• Black men with at least four years of college showed a 6.4% mean annual decrease in death rates.
• White men with fewer than 12 years of school were 5.2% more likely to die before the age of 65 than white men with at least four years of college.
• Black women without a high school diploma showed an insignificant increase in death rates—1.9%—compared to black women with at least 16 years of school. The study could not explain why.

In 2001, college-educated white women had the lowest mortality rates. Black men without a high school diploma had the highest overall mortality rates.

Death Gap Widens

A “death gap” refers to the disparity between death rates of multiple groups of people. The American Cancer Society study examined the death gap between those with less than 12 years of school and those with at least 16 years of school.

The study analyzed death rates separately for American black women, black men, white women, and white men. Researchers classified each group according to educational attainment. (See the “Mortality Trends 1993 to 2001” graphs.) The study included:

• More than 3.5 million death certificates from the National Vital Statistics System
• Deaths of male and female non-Hispanic whites and blacks
• Deaths occurring between 1993 and 2001
• Deaths from 43 states and Washington, D.C.

The study excluded:

• Seven states with known frequent problems with death certificate information
• Death certificates of people younger than 25
• Death certificates of people older than 64
• Death certificates that didn’t indicate educational achievement

Education and Poverty: Is There a Connection?

There may be a link between poverty, education and death. According to a 1999 study by the University of Maryland, about 22% of poor people were high school dropouts, and only about 3% had a college degree.

This new death gap study paralleled the conclusions of another recent study showing that life expectancy has been falling in the nation’s poorest counties.

Copyright © 2009 Informify

Sources

Death Gap Widens Between Educated and Those Not (Washington Post, 05/14/08)

U.S. research links education gap with morality rates (China View, 05/15/08)

Years of Education a Marker for Widening Socioeconomic Gap in Death Rates (MedPage Today, 05/14/08)

Widening of Socioeconomic Inequalities in U.S. Death Rates, 1993–2001 (PLoS One, 5/14/08)

Poverty by Education (University of Maryland, 10/8/99)

Question for Readers:

Why do you think less educated people die more often than college educated people?