Women's death in Scandinavia--what makes Denmark different?
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Updated: Aug 24, 2026

Scanning Skeletal Remains for Bone Mineral Density in Forensic Contexts
Published on: January 29, 2018
Rune Jacobsen1, My Von Euler, Merete Osler
1Institute of Public Health, University of Copenhagen, Blegdamsvej, Denmark. R.jacobsen@pubhealth.ku.dk
Objective:
To compare the mortality for women in Sweden, Norway and Denmark in order to search for clues for the low life expectancy of Danish women.
Methods:
Prospective age-period-cohort study covering 40 years for all Swedish, Norwegian and Danish women aged 40-84 during the period 1960-2000, and born 1900-1950.
Outcome Measures:
Relative risks and 95% confidence intervals for deaths.
Results:
The high risk of dying among Danish women was associated with being born between the two World Wars, and that a similar pattern was not found for women in Norway and Sweden. A tendency of a cohort effect was observed for Swedish women born around 1940.
Conclusions:
The currently low life expectancy of Danish women compared with that of women in Norway and Sweden is partly a transitional phenomenon caused by excessive death rates for women born between the two World Wars. Data on smoking prevalence by birth cohort and age indicate that a high percentage of Danish women in these cohorts were smokers throughout their adult life.
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