DEATH rates among young adults living in the most affluent areas of Scotland have increased, according to a new report.
Counter to long-term trends, the risk of dying between the ages of 15 and 44 has dropped in the most deprived housing schemes, but climbed in wealthy spots such as Morningside and Bearsden.
Experts say the shift, which has cut the mortality gap for this age group between those with means and those without to the lowest level since 1998, could be a short-term blip. However, possible explanations include the poorest neighbourhoods starting to "catch up" with the health improvements enjoyed by the wealthy.
The report shows the number of hospital admissions caused by excessive drinking are five times higher in the poorest parts compared to the richest, but the problem is falling significantly faster in deprived areas.
Dr Gerry McCartney, public health consultant for NHS Health Scotland, said: "We know the most important causes of health inequalities in that younger adult age group are alcohol-related deaths, drug-related deaths, suicide and violence. These causes have all been declining.
"We are seeing the result of some of the positive public health policies over the last few years."
The report, the latest in a series monitoring health inequalities, was published by the Scottish Government yesterday and focuses on data from 2012.
It presents a mixed picture with the gap between the deprived and wealthy in Scotland narrowing slightly in some areas.
The number of patients being rushed to hospital with heart attacks has risen in the most deprived communities, but Dr McCartney said this could be a sign people have responded to campaigns to seek swift attention for symptoms.
The report says in 2012 deaths among 15 to 44-year-olds were four times more common in deprived areas than wealthy postcodes at 213.8 for every 100,000 residents compared to 48.6 per 100,000.
However, it notes there was a "reduction in mortality rates in the most deprived areas, while conversely rates in the least deprived areas increased".
Dr McCartney said: "The number of deaths is quite small. It would be great if we saw two or three years of (rates in deprived areas) continuing to come down."
Multi-buy deals on alcohol were banned in 2011 and analysis found sales dropped afterwards.
Experts say it is possible this law had the biggest impact on those with least spare cash. Professor Phil Hanlon, an expert in public health at Glasgow University, also said the affluent generally benefit from health improvement initiatives early and then reach a peak as more deprived communities catch up.
Minister for Public Health Michael Matheson said: "Reducing the health gap between people in Scotland's most deprived and affluent communities is one of our greatest challenges."
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules hereComments are closed on this article