Premature mortality rate drops in Ontario, study finds

Deaths before age 75 have declined, but not every part of province sees same gains

More people in Ontario are living past the age of 75, a new public health study has found, but the gains in longevity are seen mostly around the Greater Toronto Area.

The Ontario Atlas of Adult Mortality, released last week, found the premature mortality rate — deaths before the age of 75 — declined by about 20 per cent between 1992 and 2015. But the research team, led by Laura Rosella of the University of Toronto’s Dalla Lana School of Public Health, found that not every part of province, which is divided into 14 geographic areas directed by a Local Health Integration Network, or LHINs, saw the same improvement.

“What could be happening is the benefits that we know reduce mortality aren’t reaching the populations they need to in a timely way,” Rosella said, explaining that premature deaths are often ones that could have been avoided through treatment or preventive measures. “We also know there’s complex social and demographic differences across the prov- ince, which contribute to mortality.”

The Toronto Central, Mississauga-Halton and Central LHINs, all in and around the Greater Toronto Area, saw premature death rates decline by around a third. But the Southeast, Southwest and Hamilton-Niagara-Haldimand-Brant LHINs saw only half that improvement, while certain demographics saw next to no change or even an increase in rates.

The mortality atlas revealed that the northern and outer southern regions of Ontario had higher percentages of smokers, heavy drinkers and overweight or obese people between 2000 and 2010 compared with the central parts of the province. Changes to industry and a widespread loss of employment could also have played a role in the relatively low improvements in southwestern and southeastern Ontario, Rosella said.

Premature death rates in all parts of the province were significantly higher for people in the lowest income bracket, who earned an average of $16,000 a year in 2010, compared with those in the highest bracket, which averaged $85,500 a year the same year. However, the researchers found the relationship between socioeconomic status and premature death “varies dramatically” from one region to another.