Mortality Attributable to Low Levels of Education in the United States
Overview
Paper Summary
This study found that lower educational attainment is strongly associated with higher mortality in the US. If educational disparities observed in the 1945 birth cohort were applied to the 2010 US population, over half a million deaths annually could be attributed to having less than a baccalaureate degree. The study highlights the potential public health impact of policies and interventions aimed at improving educational attainment.
Explain Like I'm Five
People with less education tend to die earlier. If everyone had a college degree, hundreds of thousands fewer people might die each year in the US.
Possible Conflicts of Interest
The authors thank the University of Colorado Population Center, which received funding from the Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development. However, the funders had no role in the study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript.
Identified Limitations
Rating Explanation
This is a strong study using a large, nationally representative dataset. However, it relies on observational data, making it difficult to definitively establish causality.
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