United Kingdom
Premature death
Key points
- The rate of premature death has fallen by a sixth over the last decade for both men and women.
- The rate of premature deaths is one and a half times as high among men as among women.
- Premature death of men is much higher in Scotland than elsewhere, particularly for men.
- The two single biggest causes of death among people aged 55 to 64 are heart disease and lung cancer. Over the period 1997 to 1999 (the latest data available), rates of both heart disease and lung cancer among those aged 35 to 64 were much higher for those from manual social backgrounds than for those from non manual ones, by 50% for heart disease and by 150% for lung cancer.
Graph 1: Over time
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Graph 2: By region
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Map
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View interactive version of map (opens in a new window)
Download a spreadsheet with the district-level statistics
Graph 4: By reason
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Graph 5: By social class
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Why this indicator was originally chosen
Standardised Mortality Rates (SMRs) are a reliable illustrator of overall health inequalities.
There are a variety of ways of presenting SMRs. The chosen indicator is the proportion of those aged under 65 who die each year, providing an overall indicator of premature death, with the second graph showing the inequalities between different parts of the country.
Definitions and data sources
The first graph shows the number of deaths of people aged under 65 per 100,000 population aged under 65, with the data shown separately for males and females.
The second graph shows, for the latest year, how the proportion of the population aged under 65 who died varies by region.
The map shows how the proportion of the population aged under 65 who died varies by local authority, with the data averaged for the latest three years.
The data source for the first and second graphs and map is the General Register Office (Scotland), Registrar General (Northern Ireland) and Mortality Statistics Division, ONS (England and Wales). The data relates to Great Britain in the first graph and to the United Kingdom in the second. All data has been standardised to a constant European age structure.
The third graph shows the reasons for premature death among those aged 55 to 64. Ischaemic heart disease and lung cancer have been separated out as they are the two biggest single causes.
The data source for the third graph is Health Statistics Quarterly 26 (Summer 2005), published by ONS. The data is for 2004 death registrations in England and Wales. Each death is coded using the Tenth Revision of the International Classification of Diseases and Related Health Problems (ICD-10). The data for cancers is all neoplasms (ICD-10 codes C00 to D48), with that labelled lung cancer being ICD-10 codes C33 and C34. 'External causes' is ICD-10 codes V01 to Y89.
The fourth graph compares death rates among those aged 35 to 64 by social class and gender for the two biggest causes of premature death, namely ischaemic heart disease and lung cancer.
The data source for the fourth graph is Health Statistics Quarterly 20 (Winter 2003), published by ONS. The data is the average for the years 1997 to 1999 and covers England and Wales. The data is the latest publicly available and the age group is the only one for which published data is available. Each death is coded using the Ninth Revision of the International Classification of Diseases and Related Health Problems (ICD-9). The data for ischaemic heart disease is ICD-9 codes 410 to 414 and that for lung cancers is ICD-9 code 162.
Overall adequacy of the indicator: high. The underlying data are deaths organised according to the local authority area of residence of the deceased by the ONS in England and Wales and by the Registrar General for Scotland.
External links
- See the ESRC Health Variations Programme.
- See the Department of Health's Programme for action in tackling health inequalities, , which includes annually published status reports.
- See the Department of Health health inequalities website.
Relevant 2007 Public Service Agreements
Overall aim: Promote better health and well-being for all
Lead department
Department of Health.
Official national targets
By 2010, increase the average life expectancy at birth in England to 78.6 years for men and to 82.5 years for women monitored using mortality rates as a proxy.
Reduce health inequalities by 10% by 2010 as measured by life expectancy at birth (monitored using AAACM as a proxy).
To reduce reducing adult (16+) smoking rates to 21% or less by 2010, with a reduction in prevalence among routine and manual groups to 26% or less.
Other indicators of progress
Proportion of people supported to live independently.
Access to psychological therapies.
Previous 2004 targets
Substantially reduce mortality rates by 2010:
- from heart disease and stroke and related diseases by at least 40 % in people under 75; with at least a 40 % reduction in the inequalities gap between the fifth of areas with the worst health and deprivation indicators and the population as a whole;
- from cancer by at least 20% in people under 75, with a reduction in the inequalities gap of at least 6% between the fifth of areas with the worst health and deprivation indicators and the population as a whole; and
- from suicide and undetermined injury by at least 20%.
Reduce health inequalities by 10% by 2010 as measured by infant mortality and life expectancy at birth.
Relevant government policies
The numbers
Graph 1
| Age-standardised deaths per 100,000 population | ||
|---|---|---|
| Year | Men | Women |
| 1991 | 322 | 191 |
| 1992 | 310 | 185 |
| 1993 | 308 | 185 |
| 1994 | 293 | 177 |
| 1995 | 293 | 177 |
| 1996 | 290 | 175 |
| 1997 | 280 | 172 |
| 1998 | 277 | 168 |
| 1999 | 270 | 166 |
| 2000 | 266 | 165 |
| 2001 | 265 | 161 |
| 2002 | 260 | 157 |
| 2003 | 257 | 157 |
| 2004 | 245 | 150 |
| 2005 | 240 | 148 |
| 2006 | 239 | 147 |
Graph 2
| Age-standardised deaths per 100,000 population | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Region | Men | Women | All |
| East | 195 | 121 | 158 |
| East Midlands | 222 | 143 | 183 |
| London | 247 | 139 | 194 |
| North East | 261 | 164 | 213 |
| North West | 274 | 172 | 223 |
| Northern Ireland | 263 | 153 | 208 |
| Scotland | 320 | 184 | 251 |
| South East | 198 | 128 | 163 |
| South West | 200 | 126 | 163 |
| Wales | 248 | 155 | 201 |
| West Midlands | 249 | 152 | 201 |
| Yorkshire and The Humber | 241 | 149 | 195 |
Graph 3
| Ischaemic heart disease | 18% |
|---|---|
| Other circulatory diseases | 11% |
| Lung cancer | 11% |
| Other cancers | 35% |
| Respiratory diseases | 8% |
| Digestive diseases | 7% |
| External causes | 3% |
| Other causes | 8% |
Graph 4
| Disease | Men | Women | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Manual backgrounds | Non-manual backgrounds | Manual backgrounds | Non-manual backgrounds | |
| Ischaemic heart disease | 150 | 100 | 45 | 26 |
| Lung cancer | 54 | 22 | 29 | 11 |