How did deprivation affect causes of death in 2016?November 21, 2017 // No Comments
A recent report by the Office for National Statistics (ONS) highlighted how the more deprived areas in both England and Wales experienced a higher number of deaths from leading causes such as heart diseases, chronic respiratory diseases and lung cancer than less deprived areas. Previous reports have shown that that people in areas of high deprivation don’t live as long. For instance, men in the Hampshire town of Hart, the least deprived local authority in England, outlive men in the most deprived area, Blackpool, by almost eight years. Women in Hart outlive their female peers in Blackpool by almost seven years.
The leading cause of death for males in both England and Wales in 2016 was heart disease, with more than 32,000 deaths in England and more than 2,300 in Wales. More people in deprived areas died as a result of heart disease, and more men suffered than women. For women in England and Wales combined, the leading cause of death was dementia and Alzheimer’s disease, with more than 41,000 women dying from this cause in 2016. This was almost double the number of men who died as a result of these diseases. There was a higher number of deaths as a result of dementia and Alzheimer’s among those living in mid-deprived areas of England, and in Wales.