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The European Journal of Public Health 2004 14(4):422-427; doi:10.1093/eurpub/14.4.422
© 2004 by European Journal of Public Health
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Smoking

Contribution of deaths related to alcohol or smoking to the gender difference in life expectancy

Finland in the early 1990s

Tuija Martelin1,2,*, Pia Mäkelä3,2 and Tapani Valkonen2

1 National Public Health Institute (KTL), Department of Health and Functional Capacity, Helsinki, Finland, 2 University of Helsinki, Department of Sociology, Population Research Unit, Finland, 3 STAKES, National Research and Development Centre for Welfare and Health

Background: In comparison to most other countries in Western Europe, Finland ranks high with regard to male excess mortality. This study examined the contribution of smoking and alcohol to the gender difference in mortality in Finland during 1991–93 among the population aged 15 or over. Methods: The study is based on data from linked registers. The number of alcohol-related deaths was assessed on the basis of information included in the death certificate, while the conventional method of population attributable fraction was applied to estimate the aggregated contribution of smoking. In combining the effects of alcohol and smoking, three alternative assumptions of their overlap were used. Results: Approximately 51–56% of the gender difference of 7.6 years in the life expectancy at age 15 was estimated to be attributable to alcohol or smoking, depending on the assumption about the overlap of the contribution of alcohol and smoking. Conclusions: The study confirms the important role of alcohol and smoking as a mechanism contributing to the difference in mortality between men and women in Finland.

Keywords: alcohol, life expectancy, mortality, sex difference, smoking

Received 16 January 2001. Accepted 17 June 2003.

* Correspondence: Tuija Martelin, PhD, National Public Health Institute (KTL), Department of Health and Functional Capacity, Mannerheimintie 166, FIN-00300 Helsinki, Finland, tel. +358 9 4744 8714, fax +358 9 4744 8924, e-mail: tuija.martelin{at}ktl.fi


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