Survival and cause-specific mortality among unemployed individuals in Poland during economic transition

There were few reports about the relationship between unemployment and mortality in Central Eastern European countries experiencing economic transition. This study measures overall and cause-specific mortality rates in 47 247 subjects registered as unemployed in Danzig City and Danzig County for the period of 1999 and 2004 and compares them with the age-matched general population. In unemployed male subjects, the age-standardized all-cause mortality rate was significantly higher than in men from the general population: 8.36 per 1000, 95% confidence interval (95% CI) 7.71-9.0 compared with 5.1 per 1000, 95% CI 4.94-5.21. The age-standardized mortality in unemployed women was also higher than in the reference population data: 5.55 per 1000, 95% CI 4.77-6.34 and 1.89 per 1000, 95% CI 1.81-1.97, respectively. External causes, suicides, alcohol and smoking-related causes explain the excess mortality among both men and women. Unemployment status was associated with a greater risk of death in men than in women: hazard ratio (HR) 2.02, 95% CI 1.33-3.08 and HR 0.74, 95% CI 0.37-1.5, respectively. Possible explanations for this disparity may be the current regulations and sociocultural context in Poland. More research is needed to understand the differences in mortality risk associated with unemployment observed between men and women in Poland.