Rural-urban mortality inequalities in four Nordic welfare states

Abstract

In the Nordic countries, there are ambitious welfare policies that might reduce rural-urban health disparities. Aim: To investigate the effect of population density on health in four Nordic countries. Methods: The health outcomes analysed were life expectancy and potential years of life lost. The effect of population density was appraised as the difference in life expectancy/ potential years of life lost by a 10-fold increase of population density. Results: In Finland, Norway and Sweden, mortality rates were consistently higher in less densely populated municipalities. These disparities increased over time. Conclusions: The welfare efforts to offset rural-urban disparities have mostly not been sufficient.