Small area variations in infant mortality in England and Wales in the inter-war period and their link with socio-economic factors.

This paper considers the changing spatial pattern of infant mortality during the inter-war years (1921-1936) at Local Government District level in England and Wales. As well as vital statistics data for these areas, also available are 1921 and 1931 Census data on unemployment, housing, occupational structure and population density, with additional data on unemployment from 1927 to 1936 for the 62 counties in which Districts are located. The statistical analysis relating changing District mortality to these characteristics derives mortality gradients across categorical forms of the social indicators, and assesses impacts of model re-specification to allow for spatio-temporal correlation. Time varying gradients across unemployment, housing and policy status are then investigated with a view to assessing whether there was a widening in mortality inequalities in the regionalized economic depression of the 1930s.

Area effects on health variation over the life-course: analysis of the longitudinal study sample in England using new data on area of residence in childhood.

There is a growing literature which demonstrates that (a) conditions throughout the life-course are important for health outcomes in older people and (b) "contextual" conditions in the place of residence, as well as individual characteristics influence health variations. This paper contributes to this debate by presenting results of an analysis of data from the Office for National Statistics Longitudinal Study (LS) for England and Wales. The analysis makes use of a new set of variables, which have been added to the LS, describing the social and economic conditions in the 1930s in residential areas where members of the LS sample were registered as living in 1939. The analysis focuses on people who were aged 0-16 in 1939. The health outcomes considered are death between 1981 and 1991, and for those still living, whether long-term illness was reported in the 1991 census. Regression analysis is used to examine the effects of residence in 1981, and data on the registered place of residence in 1939. The analysis shows that individual characteristics and type of area of residence in 1981 were associated with health outcomes. In addition, some variables describing socio-economic conditions in the 1930s contribute independently to the regression models (notably measures of economic deprivation and unemployment). The results suggest that conditions in residential area in early life may help to explain relatively poor health experience of populations in some parts of Britain today.

Suicide and unemployment in young people. Analysis of trends in England and Wales, 1921-1995.

BACKGROUND: The influence of the macro-economic climate on suicide is unclear. During the recent recession, rates have increased in young males but declined in females. AIMS: To investigate associations between unemployment and suicide in 15- to 44-year-old men and women over a period spanning two major economic recessions (1921-1995). To minimise confounding by changes in method availability, analyses are restricted to suicides using methods other than poisons and gases. METHOD: Time-series analysis using routine mortality and unemployment data. RESULTS: There were significant associations between unemployment and suicide in both males and females. Associations were generally stronger at younger ages. CONCLUSIONS: Secular trends in youth suicide may be influenced by unemployment or other factors associated with changes in the macro-economic climate. These factors appear to affect women to the same extent as men. Although it is not possible to draw firm aetiological conclusions from time-trend data, our findings are in keeping with those of person-based studies.

Mapping and analysing 200 years of the census.

"The 10th of March 2001 will mark the two-hundredth anniversary of the first census of population and should be an opportunity to look back not merely at the history of census-gathering but at the development of the population, economy and society of the British Isles. [We describe] a major university-based project led by ourselves and funded by the Economic and Social Research Council, the Leverhulme Trust and other bodies.... The project is supported by ONS [Office for National Statistics] and one of our central goals is to create an historical social atlas for publication at the bi-centenary."

The value of abrasive cytology in the early detection of oesophageal carcinoma. A pilot survey in Ciskei.

The use of abrasive cytology as a screening procedure in the diagnosis of early cancer of the oesophagus among asymptomatic rural Ciskeians was assessed. An inexpensive, locally manufactured brush biopsy capsule was used to obtain cytological material from 1,336 subjects. The technique gives a high yield, has a high predictive value and identifies a high prevalence of sufferers at the detectable preclinical phase of the disease.