Mall Leinsalu
Increasing ethnic differences in mortality in Estonia after the collapse of the Soviet Union
study objective study examined change ethnic differences mortality estonia 19892000design two unlinked cross sectional census based analyses comparedtotal cause specific mortality analysed ethnic estonians russiansthe absolute differences mortality evaluated life expectancy birth age standardised mortality ratesrelative differences assessed mortality rate ratios 95 confidence intervals calculated using poisson regressionsetting estonia fall soviet unionparticipants individual cause specific death data 19871990 69 549 deaths 19992000 33 809 deaths came national mortality databasepopulation denominators came population censuses 1989 2000main results period 19892000 ethnic differences life expectancy increased 04 years 61 years among men 06 years 35 years among womenin 2000 russians higher mortality estonians age groups almost selected causes deaththe largest differences found alcohol related causes death especially 2000conclusions political economic upheaval increasing poverty alcohol consumption considered main underlying causes widening ethnic mortality gap