Educational inequalities in cardiovascular mortality in Spanish regions (2016-2021)

Cardiovascular diseases (CVD) are the leading cause of death in low-mortality countries, but subpopulation level differences exist. This study assesses educational inequalities in CVD mortality by sex in Spanish regions (2016-2021).

Age-standardised mortality rates by sex, region and education were estimated using individual-level mortality data from individuals aged ≥35 years residing in Spain provided by the Spanish National Statistics Institute. The Relative and the Slope Indexes of Inequality (RII and SII) were estimated to assess educational inequalities.

For the whole Spain, RII was 1.79 (IC95%: 1.42-2.26) for women and 1.59 (IC95%: 1.33-1.91) for men, with differences across regions. The greatest inequalities were found in the Balearic and Canary Islands, and the lowest in La Rioja.

Continued efforts monitoring and tackling cardiovascular morbidity and its determinants are needed at the national and regional level to further contribute to reducing cardiovascular mortality levels and inequalities therein.