Mortality in the elderly: A socio-spatial analysis based on the degree of social deprivation

Mortality in Mexico has decreased substantially in the last years; however, there are segments of the population that experience social deprivation.

To identify and describe at the national level the causes of death by degree of social deprivation (DSD), age and sex.

We analyzed variables from the Censo de Vivienda y Población (Census of Population and Housing) and data from statistics of mortality and DSD, all information corresponding to 2010. Demographic and socioeconomic variables were age, sex, marital status, healthcare provider and locality. Variables related to mortality were main cause of death, year, age and the city of residence of the deceased; we analyzed the DSD at a precinct level. We applied techniques of population analysis and we used statistical packages STATA© and SPSS©. We analyzed information from 1,197,496 adults ≥ 60 years old who represented 10,602,181 elderly.

Main causes of death in the very high DSD were heart diseases, neoplasms, malnutrition and anemia, diabetes mellitus (DM) and "lack of an accurate diagnosis related to the type of care received"; in the other DSDs main causes were heart diseases, DM, neoplasms, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease and cerebral vascular disease or liver diseases.

We detected several mortality profiles; it is suggested the planning of specific actions.