Recessions, healthy no more?

J Health Econ. 2015 Jul:42:17-28. doi: 10.1016/j.jhealeco.2015.03.004. Epub 2015 Mar 20.

Abstract

Over the 1976-2010 period, total mortality shifted from strongly procyclical to being weakly or unrelated to macroeconomic conditions. The association is likely to be poorly measured when using short (less than 15 year) analysis periods. Deaths from cardiovascular disease and transport accidents continue to be procyclical; however, countercyclical patterns have emerged for fatalities from cancer mortality and external causes. Among the latter, non-transport accidents, particularly accidental poisonings, play an important role.

Keywords: Health; Macroeconomic conditions; Mortality; Recessions.

MeSH terms

  • Adult
  • Aged
  • Databases, Factual
  • Economic Recession*
  • Female
  • Health Status*
  • Humans
  • Male
  • Middle Aged
  • Models, Economic
  • Mortality / trends
  • Unemployment / trends
  • United States / epidemiology
  • Young Adult