Effect of Individual Lifestyle Choices on the Cause and Timing of Death and Their Impact on Aggregate Population Measures

Laura Cilek , Centro de Ciencias Humanas y Sociales (CCHS-CSIC)
Diego Ramiro, Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas (CSIC)
Mathias Voigt

Many analyses have found a link between "risky" behaviors and premature deaths, including causes related to diet, tobacco use, and alcohol consumption. However, little research has been able to link these lifestyle factors to cause-specific deaths on an individual level. We use individual-level survey data from the nationally representative Spanish Health Survey (Encuesta de Salud) in 2011/12 and 2014 that has been linked to the Spanish civil register and national death registry in order to understand how individual behaviors, combined with other demographic and socioeconomic characteristics, contribute to one's relative risk of cause-specific premature death. From these initial results, we use create cause- and behavior- eliminated life tables to see how changes in the lifestyles across the entire population can lead to greater longevity.

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 Presented in Session P2. Poster Session Ageing, Health and Mortality