Mortality Trends in the Population of the Irkutsk Region in the Process of Social and Environmental Transformations (1989-2017)

Abstract

Introduction. The policy in the field of public health care should take into account the peculiarities of regional development, due to the influence of socio-environmental factors and processes. Mortality indices are the most important medico-demographic index of the state of the regional socio-ecological system. The aim of the study is to characterize the mortality trends of various age groups of the population of the Irkutsk region in the context of social and environmental transformations of the post-Soviet period. Material and methods. A retrospective longitudinal study of the mortality characteristics of the population of the Irkutsk region, the Siberian Federal District (SFD) and the Russian Federation (RF) in the dynamics from the late 1980s to 2017 was carried out. Statistical materials were obtained from the databases of the Federal State Statistics Service, the Center for Demographic Studies of the New Economic School and Demographic Yearbooks of Russia. The analysis of trends in mortality rates and their socio-ecological interpretation is carried out. Results. Dynamics of the total mortality rate in the period 1989-2017 consisted of two stages (1991-1998 and 1999-2017). Each of these stages was characterized by a marked increase in the mortality rate and its subsequent decrease. The values of this index in the Irkutsk region during the entire observation period were higher than the values of the same indicator for the SFD by 6.5-10.0% and higher than the figure for the Russian Federation by 12.9-21.5%. The dynamic changes in the mortality rates of the working-age population are similar to the corresponding characteristics of total mortality. The trends in child and infant mortality rates were characterized by a consistent decrease. The dynamics of the mortality rate of the adolescent-youth contingent (15-19 years) was similar to the dynamics of the total mortality rate. Conclusion. The phenomena of a systemic transformational crisis led to the adverse dynamics of mortality characteristics from 1992 to 2006. A major positive shift in improving mortality rates occurred in 2007-2017. It was due to positive changes in the socio-economic sphere. Only the mortality levels of the working-age population did the lag behind the figures for 1989-1990 continue. The Irkutsk region should be characterized as a region of relative socio-ecological disadvantage in the mortality rates of all age groups of the population.