Socio-demographic determinants of mortality in the Republic of Moldova

Abstract

The study examines the influence of socio-demographic determinants, particularly marital status and educational attainment, on disparities in overall and cause-specific mortality in Moldova. Material and methods: Based on the depersonalised databases of death records, which include detailed ICD-10 cause-of-death data categorised by marital status and educational attainment, we analysed mortality patterns for the population aged 30 years and over during two periods around the 2004 and 2014 censuses. Absolute and relative differences in standardised death rates with 95% CIs were calculated. The reference groups were the married population and the population with higher education. Results: Significant differences in all-cause and cause-specific mortality according to marital status and educational level were found for both sexes. Particularly vulnerable groups included divorced men, never-married women and men and women with primary education or less. Marriage and higher education had a protective effect on mortality for both sexes. In 2013-2014, the difference in life expectancy at age 30 between divorced men or never-married women and their married counterparts was more than 12 years. The difference between those with higher education and those with primary education or less was more than ten years for men and nine years for women. Mortality disparities associated with marital status and education were most pronounced among young adults and decreased with age. Conclusions: Targeted preventive measures aimed at reducing mortality among vulnerable subgroups are essential, focusing on risk factors associated with infectious and respiratory diseases, liver cirrhosis and external causes of death.