Research Type: Mortality

Mortality associated with care-giving and care-giving related stress: a data linkage study.

Mortality associated with care-giving and care-giving related stress: a data linkage study.

Many studies have suggested that caregiving has a detrimental impact on health, thus the terminology ‘caregiver burden’ and ‘caregiver stress’. However, these conclusions are challenged by research (including from NILS and ONS-LS) that finds evidence of a comparative survivorship advantage. It is possible that while the overall effect on mortality may be beneficial, there may be sub-groups of carers who are at a higher mortality risk. The differentiating factor may be the amount of stress experienced, as Fredman et al. (2010) found high-stress caregivers had a higher mortality risk compared to both non-carers and low stress caregivers.

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December 16, 2019
farmer-health-inequalities-longitudinal.

Farmers Health Inequalities: Longitudinal Analysis of Morbidity, Mortality, and Migration Trends.

This study will examine morbidity, mortality, and migration between 1991, 2001, and 2011. Using individual and area level data from the NILS, I plan to compare census derived variables and health outcomes of agricultural workers against other distinct occupations. This study’s target audience will be farmers from different farming sectors and by extension their farming families. This study will analyse sub-groups of agricultural workers, their health circumstances, death rates, and migration trends against other detailed occupations; to examine variations in their demographic, socio-economic and health over time.

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December 16, 2019
Exploration of health risks associated with social isolation.

Exploration of health risks associated with social isolation.

Modern society is changing the way we live, work and relate to each other. Digitalization is eliminating the need for everyday social interactions and consequently, issues such as social isolation and loneliness are becoming pressing public health problems. Older adults are particularly susceptible to social isolation due to a number of factors such as retirement, bereavement, loss of social contacts, declining health conditions, and other age-related major life transitions. Adverse health effects of social isolation are well established at older age, including early mortality1-3. Thus, whilst people are living longer, the quality of life experienced does not necessarily correspond with the increase in life expectancy years. This is made more problematic by global trends of a rapidly ageing population.

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December 16, 2019
Mortality after death of a spouse: Is risk the same for all groups?

Mortality after death of a spouse: Is risk the same for all groups?

Among married people, loss of a spouse has been shown to be associated with excess mortality, even after controlling for potential confounding factors. This phenomenon is known as the widowhood effect. While the widowhood effect has been found in a range of different studies across different countries, relatively little is known about how the size of the widowhood effect differs across different groups of people. One early study noted that excess mortality among widowers in higher social classes was greater than that of widowers in lower social classes; however, a more recent study found no education differences in the relative risk of mortality among the bereaved.

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November 15, 2019
A study of the socio-demographic and socio-economic factors related to risk of avoidable and preventable deaths in Northern Ireland.

A study of the socio-demographic and socio-economic factors related to risk of avoidable and preventable deaths in Northern Ireland.

This study will use the Northern Ireland Mortality Study (NIMS) to examine the socio-demographic and socio-economic determinants of deaths occurring in the five/six years following the 2001 Census that can be defined as ‘avoidable’. This follows on from (and builds on) an extensive review of the topic area by ONS (Wheller L, Baker A, Griffiths C, Rooney C, 2007), and will examine ‘avoidable mortality’ within a Northern Ireland context.

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November 15, 2019
Variation in morbidity and mortality by country of birth in Northern Ireland.

Variation in morbidity and mortality by country of birth in Northern Ireland.

The study of health differences between migrant and non-migrant groups is a potential source of insight into the causes of ill-health and can contribute to debates on the relative contribution of genetic or environmental factors in the aetiology of particular diseases. Often the most significant migrant groups to a country are those from neighbouring countries, yet these groups are only infrequently studied. While a substantial strand of epidemiological research has examined health outcomes for Irish and Scottish migrants to England and Wales and Irish migrants to Scotland, there has been little research into the health of migrant groups to Northern Ireland.

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November 15, 2019
From Black to the Twenty-first century – has it changed and how would we know? - A Study of Mortality differentials by social class over time in Northern Ireland and the impact of differing approaches to measuring and comparing these.

From Black to the Twenty-first century – has it changed and how would we know? – A Study of Mortality differentials by social class over time in Northern Ireland and the impact of differing approaches to measuring and comparing these.

This is a study to be submitted in partial fulfilment of the requirements for an MSc in Health Informatics. The study looks at the various ways of measuring comparative mortality across social class and deprivation over time using Northern Ireland data. Using vital registration data for NI as a primary source it compares age std mortality rates for a range of diseases, life expectancy and potential years of life lost over time in Northern Ireland. From the NILS mortality dataset, it is intended to directly compare the 2001 census assignment of social class with that on death registration for deaths post 2001 by age group and to compare the mortality rates using the census social class with GRO’s version for the NILS population who have died in the period 2002-2006.

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November 15, 2019
Utilising and combining the Longitudinal Studies of England and Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland: developing a unified approach to investigating UK-wide regional differences in health, coupled with an exemplar analysis of the relationship between self-reported morbidity and mortality.

Utilising and combining the Longitudinal Studies of England and Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland: developing a unified approach to investigating UK-wide regional differences in health, coupled with an exemplar analysis of the relationship between self-reported morbidity and mortality.

There are now three Census-based record linkage studies covering the constituent parts of the UK: The Office for National Statistics Longitudinal Study (ONS LS) of England and Wales (established in the mid-1970s); the Scottish Longitudinal Study (SLS); and the Northern Ireland Longitudinal Study (NILS) – the latter two launched in 2007. Their existence means that there is now potential to undertaking parallel and combined analyses using all three sources to examine health differentials over the whole of the United Kingdom (UK).

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November 15, 2019
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