Age and cause-of-death contributions to educational inequalities in life expectancy and lifespan variation in a low-mortality country: A cross-sectional study of 1.67 million deaths in Spain (2016–19)

BACKGROUND: We aim to assess the age- and cause-specific contributions to differences in life expectancy and lifespan variation between the high- and low-educated groups in Spain. METHODS: We use sex-, age-, education- and cause-specific mortality and population data for individuals aged 30 and over for 2016-19 in Spain. We estimated life expectancies, and standard deviations of the age-at-death distribution (lifespan variation), and we disentangled the contribution of age-causes of death to educational differences in both indicators. FINDINGS: Life expectancy at age 30 was higher for high-educated groups compared to low-educated groups, 5.5 years for males and 3.0 years for females. Lifespan variation was higher for low-educated groups compared to high-educated groups, 2.9 years for males and 2.2 years for females. The main contributors to the life expectancy gaps in males were lung cancer (0.58 years) and ischaemic heart diseases (0.42 years), and in females were other cardiovascular causes (0.26 years), and ischaemic heart diseases (0.22 years). The main contributors to the lifespan variation gaps were in males lung cancer (−0.25 years) and ischaemic heart diseases (−0.22 years), while in females were other neoplasms and other diseases of the nervous system. INTERPRETATION: Whereas behavioural causes are more important in explaining educational inequalities in mortality among men, ageing-related causes of death seem more important among women. Attempts at narrowing socioeconomic gaps in mortality may benefit from applying gender-specific preventive policy measures.