Assessment of Mortality Disparities by Wealth Relative to Other Measures of Socioeconomic Status Among US Adults

IMPORTANCE: The association between wealth and mortality is likely to be nonlinear and may result from selection and reverse causality. OBJECTIVE: To compare the magnitude of mortality disparities by wealth relative to other measures of socioeconomic status (SES). DESIGN, SETTING, AND PARTICIPANTS: This population-based cohort study began in 1995 to 1996, with approximately 18 years of mortality follow-up. These analyses were completed in November 2021. Data were derived from a population-based sample that targeted noninstitutionalized, English-speaking adults aged 25 to 74 years in the contiguous US. The response rate for the telephone interview ranged from 60% (twin subsample) to 70% (main sample). A self-administered questionnaire was completed by 89% of those interviewed by telephone. EXPOSURES: Net assets of the respondent and spouse or partner in 1995 to 1996. MAIN OUTCOMES AND MEASURES: All-cause mortality. RESULTS: Among 6320 respondents (mean [SD] age at baseline, 46.9 [12.9] years; 3318 women [52.5%]), 1000 (15.8%) died by May 31, 2013. Adjusted for age, sex, and race, the mortality disparity by wealth was larger than the disparities by education, occupation, income, or childhood SES, especially at the oldest ages. After age 65 years, the hazard ratio [HR] was 2.69 (95% CI, 2.00-3.62) for those with no assets relative to those with at least $300 000 of wealth (in 1995 dollars), which translated into a 31 percentage point differential in estimated probability of surviving from age 65 years to 85 years (40% vs 71%). Additional wealth greater than $500 000 was not associated with lower mortality. In fully adjusted models, there was still a sizeable wealth disparity in mortality after age 65 years (HR, 1.89; 95% CI, 1.33-2.67). After adjustment for confounders, the estimated probability of surviving from age 65 to 85 years was 19 percentage points higher for persons with at least $300 000 in wealth (70%) than for those with no assets (51%), but there was a much larger 37 percentage point differential between never smokers (70%) and current smokers (33%). CONCLUSIONS AND RELEVANCE: In this cohort study, the fully adjusted disparity in mortality associated with wealth beyond age 65 years remained sizeable but was much smaller than the smoking differential.