State policies and county economies jointly linked to death rates
An observational study found the lowest working-age mortality in economically secure counties within states with liberal policies.
Limit: The abstract omits how policy categories were defined, preventing scrutiny of state policy classification
An observational study of working-age mortality among males and females in the United States examined state policies alongside county economic conditions. Researchers modelled the two levels together and found that their mortality associations were not independent. Mortality was lowest in economically secure counties within states with liberal policies.
For males, extreme county economic insecurity was associated with high mortality regardless of state policy. High county workforce participation was associated with higher male mortality in conservative-policy states. For females, county economic and labour disadvantages had weaker links to mortality in states with liberal policies.
Why it matters
Deaths during working age affect who reaches older age, making social and economic inequalities relevant to questions about survival across adulthood.
Caveats
This observational study cannot establish cause and effect. It concerned working-age mortality; the abstract did not report the sample size, exact ages or how policy categories were defined.
