Childhood neighborhoods and cause-specific adult mortality in Sweden 1939–2015

Abstract

The socioeconomic health gradient has widened in recent decades. We study how childhood socioeconomic neighborhood conditions influence gender- and cause-specific adult mortality. Using uniquely detailed geocoded longitudinal microdata for a Swedish town (1939–1967), with a follow-up in national registers (1968–2015), we apply Cox proportional hazards models and estimate individual neighborhoods at the address-level. We find that childhood neighborhood social class has a lasting influence on male adult mortality (ages 40–69), even when adjusting for class position, class origin, neighborhood physical attributes and school districts. This impact was particularly pronounced for preventable causes of death, pointing to lifestyle and behavioral factors as important mechanisms.