Morbidity, disability and mortality of the working-age population in Russia

Abstract

Introduction. The problem of labour force insufficiency and super mortality in the working-age population persists in Russia and requires the development of measures to preserve and promote the health of economically active population. The study aims to assess the health status of the working-age population and the informativeness of official statistics on morbidity, disability and mortality. Materials and methods. We have analyzed the currently available sources of official statistics on morbidity, disability and mortality of the working-age population in Russia. The authors have gave the characteristic of the health status of the working-age population for 2012-2018 on the basis of existing statistical sources. Results. The primary morbidity rate in 2018 was 6.013 per ten thousand people of working age. Over a seven-year period, the decline was 1.7%. The indicator of primary disability in 2018 was 43.2 per ten thousand for men and 26.4 per 10 thousand for women, having decreased by 26.0% and 24.1%, respectively, compared to 2012, which is largely due to changes in the regulatory framework and criteria for establishing disability. The level of disability among men throughout the study period was 1.6-1.7 times higher than that of women. This is due to a complex of factors, including a longer working age and working conditions, since men are more often engaged in work in contact with harmful production factors. Standardized mortality rates in working age for the period from 2012 to 2018 decreased by 21.2% for men and 14.6% for women. However, the mortality rate among men was more than 3 times higher than among women (68.2 per ten thousand and 20.3 per ten thousand in 2018, respectively). The authors have identified significant shortcomings of the available statistical data on the health of the working-age population. There are full statistical data only on mortality, and data on primary morbidity and primary disability we have by enlarged age groups without gender separation, which significantly reduces their analytical capabilities. Conclusion. Currently, there is an acute problem in Russia of reducing the working-age population, which is associated with a number of demographic and socio-economic reasons and unsatisfactory health characteristics of this age group, especially men. In order to form scientifically-based recommendations aimed at improving the health of the population, access to detailed data is needed to assess the health of the population in the "morbidity - disability - mortality" complex. Ethics. This study did not require the conclusion of the Ethics committee.