Objectives

To investigate social, economic, demographic and occupational differentials in mortality (total and by cause) within a national sample of the U.S. population.

Background

Large national studies of mortality, especially cardiovascular mortality, by occupation, industry, income, education or other socioeconomic factors are rare. From the studies that do exist, however, it is clear that strong relationships exist between socioeconomic factors and mortality. These relationships may be influenced by and may account for differences in mortality by race, ethnic origin, or geographic factors. To study these relationships in detail, large studies, inclusive of the ethnic, social and economic diversity of the U.S., are needed.

Participants

A series of cross-sectional, national samples of the U.S. population, as identified from the Annual Social and Economic Supplement (ASEC – formerly the Current Population Survey) of the Bureau of the Census. The latest release of NLMS, version 5, contains five data files for public use: surveys with full follow-up for 11 years (n=1,835,072), surveys centered around 1983 with full follow-up for 6 years (n=1,040,719), surveys centered around 1993 with full follow-up for 6 years (n=525,884), surveys centered around 2002 with full follow-up for 6 years (n=745,162) and a tobacco use consisting of supplemental tobacco use information collected periodically between 1993 and 2005 with 5 years of follow-up for mortality (n=493,282).

Design

Records from the Annual Social and Economic Supplement (ASEC), beginning in March 1979 were matched to the National Death Index to identify the occurrence and cause of death through 2011. Extensive demographic, social, economic, and occupation information is collected in the ASEC. The linkage of the individual social and economic data with the mortality outcomes provides the resource for extensive analysis.

Request Data

Please note that researchers must be registered on this site to submit a request, and you will be prompted to log in. If you are not registered on this site, you can do so via the Request button. Registration is quick, easy and free.