The Association Between Socioeconomic Status and Adult Mortality in a Developing Country: Evidence From a Nationally Representative Longitudinal Survey of Indonesian Adults.

OBJECTIVES: To estimate the association between socioeconomic status (SES) and adult mortality in Indonesia and determine the contribution of adult behavioral risk factors to SES differences in mortality.
METHODS: Discrete failure-time regression models and period life tables were used to estimate life expectancy at age 30 (e30) across wealth and consumption groups by sex and urban/rural residence.
RESULTS: For urban men, e30 increases by an average of 1.10 years per wealth quartile (p = .014) from 38.7 years (95% confidence interval (CI): 37.4-40.5) in the bottom wealth quartile to 42.1 years (95% CI: 40.3-44.1) in the top quartile; for rural men, e30 increases by an average of 1.35 years per quartile (p = .007) from 40.6 years (95% CI: 39.2-42.5) in the bottom wealth quartile to 44.3 years (95% CI: 42.4-46.6) in the top quartile. SES differences are smaller for women. Behavioral risk factors are inconsistently patterned across SES and do not explain SES differences in mortality. DISCUSSION: The associations between SES and adult life expectancy in Indonesia are moderate when compared with developed countries and are not explained by traditional behavioral risk factors. In a context where behavioral risk factors are inconsistent across SES groups, mortality inequality may be driven by inequalities in health care access or other social factors.