[Methodological basics of prognosticating the life expectancy of population in big cities]. / Metodicheskie osnovy opredeleniia ozhidaemoi prodolzhitel'nosti zhizni naseleniia bol'shikh gorodov.

The reasons of high mortality and of low life expectancy among Russian citizens as well as their sharp fluctuations observed in the 90-ies were explained differently by researchers, however, no attempt was made to analyze the impact made by a huge inflow of immigrant from the republics of the former USSR and "close abroad" in any case studies. In this paper we point at the fact that the mortality statistics and life expectancy in Moscow were influenced, at least for as long as 12 years, by a systemic error, which made the mortality index higher and the life expectancy lower, among Muscovites, due to overestimates of the absolute number of died Muscovites and to underestimates of the city residents. The 2001 life expectancy of men and women in Moscow calculated on the basis of data, from which non-residents who died in the capital were deleted, was 64.7 and 75.0, respectively, but not 61.7 and 73.5 as represented by the official statistics. The maximum negative effect of death cases of non-residents exerted on the life expectancy coincides with the overall mortality peak value in Moscow: life expectancy of Muscovites for 1994 estimated without accounting of the mortality rate for non-residents turned out to be 3.2 years higher for men and 1.5 years higher for women. Supposedly, the Russian mortality statistics is not nation-wide in line with the actual state of affairs. However, the influence of the discussed systemic error in Russia's regions can be expected to be less pronounced since the level of immigration in Moscow is most probably by far higher.

[Smoking: the main cause of high mortality rate among Russian population]. / Kurenie -- osnovnaia prichina vysokoi smertnosti rossiian.

Mortality rates in Russia are very high as compared to those in other developed countries, particularly among men. A series of hypotheses associating heavy drinking and social and economic stresses of the transition period with drastic increases in mortality rates in Russia in the mid-1990s have been generated. However, the hypotheses are under analytical study on an individual level. A case control study was carried out to investigate the association of mortality due to smoking, alcoholic consumption, and a variety of socioeconomic indices. A total of 13,079 individuals who died in 1990-1999 were identified during a populational survey of 90,147 families in four Russian cities: Barnaul, Tomsk, Tyumen, and Vladivostok. Data on lifestyle habits, such as smoking, alcohol consumption, and some socioeconomic characteristics of the deceased were obtained from questionnaire surveys with proxy respondents (wives, husbands, etc.). Proportional mortality analyses were carried out. Controls were selected from those who died from non-smoking-related causes. A statistically significant association was established between smoking and the risk of death due to cancers of the lung, mouth, pharynx, larynx, esophagus, stomach, and urinary bladder. There was also a dose-response relationship of the numbers of cigarettes smoked to the risk of cancers at these sites. Smokers were found to be at a statistically significantly increased risk for coronary heart disease and stroke. There was a close and statistically significant association between smoking and chronic obstructive lung diseases, respiratory tuberculosis, and other respiratory infections. There was also a close dose-response relationship of the number of cigarettes consumed per day to the risk of respiratory tuberculosis and obstructive lung disease.