Ethnic and religious differentials in Bulgarian mortality, 1993–98

Abstract

We investigated ethnic/religious mortality differentials in Bulgaria during the 1990s. The analyses employed a unique longitudinal data-set covering the entire population of Bulgaria from the census of 1992 until 1998. The mortality of Roma is very high compared to all other ethnic/religious groups. The excess applies to nearly every cause of death examined and is not entirely explained by the adverse location of Roma on social and economic variables. For young men, Muslim mortality is substantially lower than that of non-Muslims when socio-economic differences are controlled. An analysis of causes of death suggests that lower consumption of alcohol may contribute to this ‘Muslim paradox’. For older Turkish women, a significant mortality disadvantage remains after controls are imposed. Suicide mortality is lower for Muslims than for Christian groups of the same ethnicity. Consistent with deteriorating economic conditions over the study period, mortality was rising, particularly for women.

Keywords:

• Muslims
• Christians
• Turks
• Pomaks
• Roma
• mortality
• cause of death
• lifestyle
• socio-economic determinants
• Bulgaria

Notes

1. Iliana V. Kohler is Associate Director, Population Aging Research Center (PARC); Research Associate, Population Studies Center, University of Pennsylvania, 3718 Locust Walk, Philadelphia, PA 19104–6299, USA. E-mail: [email protected]. Samuel H. Preston is Professor of Sociology, University of Pennsylvania. E-mail: [email protected]

2. The authors acknowledge the support of the National Institutes of Health–National Institute on Aging (Grant Number P30 AG12836), the Boettner Center for Pensions and Retirement Security at the University of Pennsylvania, the National Institutes of Health (NIH), the National Institute of Child Health, and the Development Population Research Infrastructure Program R24 HD-044964 at the University of Pennsylvania. The compilation of the Bulgarian data-set was performed at the National Statistical Institute of Bulgaria (NSI) and funded by a grant from the National Institute on Aging (NIA 10168). The authors gratefully acknowledge the support received for this research from the National Statistical Institute of Bulgaria (NSI), and are gratefully indebted to Ekaterina Arnaudova, Ivan Balev, and Mariana Dimova for their help and support in establishing this database.