Inequalities in health in Ireland - hard facts.

Abstract

The following are the principal findings of this report: • In 1996 unskilled manual men were twice as likely to die as higher professional men (standardised ratio 122 versus 64). • In 1996 unskilled manual men were eight times more likely to die from an accidental cause than higher professional men (standardised ratio 136 versus 17). • In 1996 you were almost four times as likely to be admitted to hospital for the first time for schizophrenia if you were in the unskilled manual category than if you were a higher professional (standardised ratio of 130 versus 35). • In the early 1990s women in the unemployed socio-economic group were over twice as likely to give birth to low birth weight babies as women in the higher professional group (standardised ratio of 140 versus 66). • Persons with socio-economic group ‘unskilled manual’ have worse health than professional groups in all years and for all the conditions which are analysed in this report. • Persons with socio-economic group ‘unknown’ have consistently worse health than those in socio-economic group ‘unskilled manual’. • The proportion of persons where socio-economic group is unknown is growing in each database. • Mortality seems to be worse in medium sized towns than in cities or in rural areas. • Data from the Perinatal Reporting System has not been published for eight years. • HIPE is of practically no use in making comment on socio-economic differences