Citation

Svejdarová H, Bencko V. Cent. Eur. J. Public Health 1998; 6(4): 300-306.

Copyright

(Copyright © 1998, National Institute of Public Health [Czech Republic], Publisher TIGIS)

DOI

unavailable

PMID

9919383

Abstract

The aim of this study was to analyse a potential connection between the chosen parameters of the quality of the environment and the mortality pattern of residents in the Czech Republic. By means of linear regression selected parameters of the quality of the environment in the districts were compared with mortality rates and some other indices of the health status of the inhabitants of the districts. The region of Prague was excluded from our study because of a substantial gap in environmental data set. The percentage of inhabitants who live in an environment evaluated as "acceptable" served as the independent variable. The total mortality rate or some other health data were the dependent ones. An analysis of our data set has shown that the environment "influences" mortality by 30% (r2 = 29.6%) in men and even by 40% (r2 = 43.6%) in women. Standardized mortality rates by causes of death and some other parameters of the health status of the population were also compared with the chosen parameters of the quality of the environment. A statistically significant linear association was found between the quality of the environment and the standardized mortality rate of malignant neoplasm in both men (r2 = 13.8%) and women (r2 = 32.4%), the standardized mortality rate of diseases of the circulatory system in women and the incidence of TB in men. The highest correlation was found between the quality of the environment and the incidence of gonorrhoea (r2 = 51.7%). Apparently this dependence is not a causal one. It could be interpreted as a dependence between the quality of the environment and the social behaviour of its inhabitants. On the verge of significance was male mortality from injury and mortality from suicide. No association has been found between the quality of the environment and the standardized mortalities from diseases of the respiratory system, the infant mortality rate till one year of age, incidence of congenital anomalies and the incidence of diabetes mellitus.

Language: en

Keywords

Czech Republic; Environmental Pollution; Female; Health Status; Humans; Life Expectancy; Linear Models; Male; Mortality; Sex Factors