Global assessment of inequalities in cause-specific mortality based on the analysis of national data: implications for strategies to tackle health inequalities

2016 Fiscal Year Final Research Report

• Project/Area Number: 26870383
• Research Category: Grant-in-Aid for Young Scientists (B)
• Allocation Type: Multi-year Fund
• Research Field: Hygiene and public health; Epidemiology and preventive medicine
• Research Institution: Okayama University
• Principal Investigator: SUZUKI Etsuji 岡山大学, 医歯薬学総合研究科, 助教 (10627764)
• Project Period (FY): 2014-04-01 – 2017-03-31
• Keywords: 健康格差 / 社会疫学 / 環境疫学 / 自殺予防 / 因果推論 / 疫学理論 / マルチレベル分析 / ナショナルデータ

Outline of Final Research Achievements

I aimed to establish the methods for analysis and global assessment of health inequalities. I elucidated the nature of confounding bias that should be considered when assessing health inequalities, showing a typology of four notions of confounding. In addition, I provided a new organizational schema for errors that occur when assessing health inequalities. Furthermore, by focusing on social determinants of health (e.g., social capital) and their related environmental factors (e.g., desert dust), I revealed key features of health inequalities in Japan and examined the context of growing inequalities.

Free Research Field

疫学理論、因果推論、社会疫学、環境疫学、産業保健