March 27, 1998. Copyright 1998. Graphic News. All rights reserved.

STUDY HIGHLIGHTS RISKS OF SOCIAL INJUSTICE 

LONDON, March 27, Graphic News: A NEW STUDY shows black men in the United States are nearly 50 percent more likely to die prematurely than white men and socio-economic position seems to be the major reason behind the difference.

According to a joint research programme conducted by the University of Bristol, UK, University of Minnesota and University Medical School, Chicago, evidence shows that social position and social injustice is linked to the rising difference in death rates between black and white men in the U.S.
James Neaton, a professor at University of Minnesota says: ÔIt was surprising and quite striking that income differential can potentially explain so much of the difference in the death rates.Õ

After adjusting for income levels researchers found that the risk of premature death for black men was only 19 percent higher than for white men. 

The study, published in The Lancet, looked at 20,224 black men and 300,685 white men between 1973 and 1975 and compared data on age, cigarette smoking, blood pressure, serum cholesterol, previous heart attack, and treatment for diabetes. Deaths were classified during 16 years of follow-up into specific causes and compared black men and white men, before and after adjustment for differences in income and other risk factors. 

The researchers found that for most types of premature death, income played a significant role. For instance, for cardiovascular disease, adjusting for income dropped the increased risk for black men from 36 percent to 9 percent. For cancer it fell from 47 percent to 25 percent and for accidents and violence it fell from 59 percent to 24 percent.

Says Neaton: ÔLots of people in lots of different venues talk about social injustice. Here we have evidence that these injustices can have a big impact on how people live. It's more ammunition for trying to make young peopleÕs lives better and for better care for older people. And, generally, for not having life be so discriminatory.Õ

/ENDS

Source: The Lancet, Volume 351, Number 9107, 28 March 1998

Contacts: Department of Social Medicine, University of Bristol, Canynge Hall, Bristol BS8 2PR, UK (Prof G Davey Smith MD); Division
of Biostatistics, School of Public Health, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA (Prof J D Neaton PhD, D
Wentworth MPH); and Department of Preventive Medicine, Northwestern University Medical School, Chicago, Illinois (Prof
R Stamler MA, Prof J Stamler MD)