Influence of life-related factors and participation in health examination on mortality in a 4.5-year follow-up of a rural cohort.

To identify life-related factors causing increased mortality, 2,769 rural residents aged 29-77 were investigated through a self-administered questionnaire in 1990. Death certificates and migration information were inspected during the 4.5-year follow-up period. Age, obesity, life attitude, job, marital status, drinking and smoking habits, previous or current illness, and frequency of participation in health examinations were checked during the baseline survey. The person-year mortality rate was higher among irregular participants in health examinations than among regular participants both among males and females. From Cox's multiple regression analysis, factors with a significantly high hazard ratio (HR) for mortality were irregular participation (HR=2.05), increase of age (HR=1.54, for 10 years), previous or current illness (HR=2.44), unemployment (HR=1.95), and living without a spouse (HR=2.61) for males; and for females they were having previous or current illness (HR=15.21) and living without a spouse (HR=2.94). Thus, irregular participation in health examinations, unemployment and aging showed a relationship with a higher mortality only in males. A previous or current illness and living without a spouse were related in both sexes.