Variation in survival in coastal and continental regions of Croatia--results of a longitudinal study.

After 25 years of follow-up, regional variations in survival were analysed on a sample of 3343 participants (1780 female, 1563 male) from three urban and three rural municipalities in Croatia. Age of participants was in the range 35-54 years at the beginning of the study (1969). Cox regression for general mortality singled out one continental rural municipality (Virovitica) with the lowest survival in both genders. The relationship between the risk of death and age at the beginning of the study was approximately linear throughout its range for men, and after the age of 45 for women. Men showed a trend of better survival in the coastal region, which was consistent with findings of a similar concurrent study of rural Croatian population.