Social class differences in rates of premature mortality among adults in the city of Wrocław, Poland

Mortality rates among adult men and women, inhabitants of the city of Wrocław, were studied within 5-year age classes between 20 and 64 years of age relative to two social variables: education and marital status of the deceased. Age- and sex-specific mortality rates reveal a systematic social gradient. They are highest among persons with primary or "basic vocational" school education, lower among those with secondary school education, and lowest among those with college education. This gradient consistently appears in each of the age classes of males and females, although it is more pronounced among males. In both sexes, married persons have lower rates of mortality than those who have never married or were divorced or widowed. Among females, marital status appears to have a stronger effect on age-specific rates of mortality than educational status; the reverse is the case among males. © 1993 Wiley-Liss, Inc.