Spatial analysis of urban mortality

The article deals with an attempt to develop a typological classification based on mortality data in cities with population of more than 100 000 inhabitants. The aim of the study is to reveal regional features of the level and structure of urban population mortality in the Russian Federation. A methodology has been developed and a typological classification of Russian cities has been carried out. As a result eight groups of cities for men and six groups for women with different rates and causes of male and female mortality have been identified and analyzed. The high female mortality rate was recorded principally in the oldest industrial centers of the Urals and Siberia. The high male mortality rate was recorded in the northern cities of the European part of the Russian Federation, as well as in the industrial cities of the south of Siberia. The external causes of death including murder and suicide also played an important role along with the natural causes. A group of cities with high male mortality rate due to external causes and socially significant pathologies, including Kyzyl, Novokuznetsk and Ulan-Ude, was identified separately. The lowest female mortality rates are in the cities of the European territory located south of the Moscow region. Compared to female rates, low male mortality was observed both in the cities of the European territory, and in the Ural (Yekaterinburg, Tyumen), as well as in Western Siberia (Novy Urengoy, Nizhnevartovsk, Noyabrsk, Surgut, Tomsk). Traditionally, the lowest mortality rate in the Russian Federation was recorded in the cities of the Northern Caucasus. Male mortality rates showed more differentiated territorial distribution. The dependence between mortality rate and the population numbers of a city was identified being the most evident for women. The database and the algorithm of calculation using the mortality rates with a detailed demarcation of age categories and causes of death are perspective for further analysis of the medical and demographic situation in cities.

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