Educational status is related to mortality at the community level in three areas of Tanzania, 1992–1998
- Philip Setela,b,
- David Whitinga,b,
- Yusuf Hemeda,
- K G M M Alberti for the Adult Morbidity and Mortality Team, Tanzanian Ministry of Healthb
- aAdult Morbidity and Mortality Project, Tanzanian Ministry of Health, bDepartment of Diabetes and Metabolism, School of Clinical Medical Sciences, University of Newcastle upon Tyne
- Dr Setel, AMMP, PO Box 65243, Dar es Salaam, Tanzania (setel.ammp{at}twiga.com)
- Accepted 20 June 2000
Research on health outcomes and socioeconomic status in Africa remains scanty.1 There continues to be a dearth of representative mortality data from developing countries, particularly from sub-Saharan Africa. This lack of information hampers evidence-based planning and an understanding of the relation between relative socioeconomic advantage and health outcomes such as mortality. In the United States, Murray et al 2 have demonstrated the utility of examining mortality data from small geographical areas in relation to socioeoconomic status represented by variables such as ethnicity and education. Here we present data from a large demographic surveillance system in the United Republic of Tanzania demonstrating a strong relation between average years of formal education among adults (as an indicator of social position) and mortality. We use formal education in the adult population as an indicator of …
