Regional Differences in Life Expectancy in Russia Through the Lens of Epidemiological Transition

  • Alla E. Ivanova Institute for Demographic Research—Branch of the Federal Center of Theoretical and Applied Sociology of the Russian Academy of Sciences, Moscow, Russia http://orcid.org/0000-0002-0258-3479
  • Victoria G. Semyonova Institute for Demographic Research—Branch of the Federal Center of Theoretical and Applied Sociology of the Russian Academy of Sciences, Moscow, Russia http://orcid.org/0000-0002-2794-1009
  • Tamara P. Sabgayda Institute for Demographic Research—Branch of the Federal Center of Theoretical and Applied Sociology of the Russian Academy of Sciences, Moscow, Russia http://orcid.org/0000-0002-5670-6315
  • Elena V. Polyanskaya Far Eastern Scientific Center of Physiology and Pathology of Respiration, Blagoveshchensk, Russia http://orcid.org/0000-0001-6260-8693
DOI: https://doi.org/10.15826/csp.2024.8.2.278

Abstract

An immense territory of Russia with several climatic zones and, accordingly, a fundamentally different styles of life, inevitably results in pronounced varieties in the levels and structure of mortality across the regions of the country. Since the scale and sustainability of differences in mortality in Russia can be considered an entire epidemiological epoch, the evaluation of them through the lens of epidemiological transition seems methodologically appropriate. Regional differences are regarded as a kind of projection of evolution in time, though taking into account modern realities. The analysis of regional differences in mortality is based on such indicators as life expectancy, structure of mortality, i.e., predominantly endogenous to exogenous causes of death ratio, as well as the average age of death from predominantly endogenous causes calculated on the basis of life tables by cause of death. The study showed that according to the periodization of epidemiological transition only Moscow and St. Petersburg are at the final phase of the 3rd stage and are moving to the 4th stage of epidemiological development. Meanwhile, the burden of exogenous and preventable pathologies precludes the completion of the 3rd stage in the regions with high life expectancy according to Russian criteria. The stadial nature of epidemiologic development of Russian regions is currently conditioned by socio-economic and medical determinants, with more pressing medical determinants in regions with high and medium levels of life expectancy and socio-economic factors prevailing in regions with low life expectancy.

Author Biographies

Alla E. Ivanova, Institute for Demographic Research—Branch of the Federal Center of Theoretical and Applied Sociology of the Russian Academy of Sciences, Moscow, Russia

Alla E. Ivanova, Dr. Sci. (Economy), Professor, Head, Department of Health and Health-Preserving Behavior, Institute for Demographic Research—Branch of the Federal Center of Theoretical and Applied Sociology of the Russian Academy of Sciences. Prof. Ivanova has organized and implemented research in evaluation and social-economic interpretation of health loss due to morbidity, disability, and mortality; analysis of preventable health loss and development of programs aimed at health improvement and mortality reduction at the Federal, regional, and municipal levels; and analysis and forecast of self-preserving behavior. She has established and managed a WHO collaborating center on health informatics and health analysis.

Victoria G. Semyonova, Institute for Demographic Research—Branch of the Federal Center of Theoretical and Applied Sociology of the Russian Academy of Sciences, Moscow, Russia

Victoria G. Semyonova, Dr. Sci. (Economy), Chief Researcher, Department of Health and Health-Preserving Behavior, Institute for Demographic Research—Branch of the Federal Center of Theoretical and Applied Sociology of the Russian Academy of Sciences. She conducts research in mortality by age and nosology with a special focus on quality identification of socially determined causes of death and reconstruction of actual scales of mortality from suicide, alcohol, and drug use. She has proposed a hypothesis of the reversed epidemiological transition as a concept for assessing the demographic crisis of the 1990s in Russia.

Tamara P. Sabgayda, Institute for Demographic Research—Branch of the Federal Center of Theoretical and Applied Sociology of the Russian Academy of Sciences, Moscow, Russia

Tamara P. Sabgayda, Dr. Sci. (Medicine), Professor, Chief Researcher, Department of Health and Health-Preserving Behavior, Institute for Demographic Research—Branch of the Federal Center of Theoretical and Applied Sociology of the Russian Academy of Sciences. Earlier in her career, Prof. Sabgayda used to focus on system analysis and modeling of epidemiological processes. Then she placed her interest in public health, its indicators and methods of analysis. She deals with methodologies for assessing preventable mortality, analysis of potential years of life lost (YLL), identification of the relationship between YLL and risk factors.

Elena V. Polyanskaya, Far Eastern Scientific Center of Physiology and Pathology of Respiration, Blagoveshchensk, Russia

Elena V. Polyanskaya is a Senior Researcher, Laboratory of Non-Specific Lung Disease Prevention, Far Eastern Scientific Center of Physiology and Pathology of Respiration. She holds her Master degree in Economy. Her research interests include social and economic burden of diseases exemplified by diseases of the respiratory system, health service market, private-government partnership in health. In 2015, Elena Polyanskaya completed advanced training and received a “Health economist” certificate from the University of York (UK), she is a member of the International Society for Pharmacoeconomics and Outcomes Research.

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Published
2024-07-19
How to Cite
Ivanova, A., Semyonova, V., Sabgayda, T., & Polyanskaya, E. (2024). Regional Differences in Life Expectancy in Russia Through the Lens of Epidemiological Transition. Changing Societies & Personalities, 8(2), 351–374. doi:10.15826/csp.2024.8.2.278
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Vol. 8, No. 2 (2024): Special Issue “Demographic Well-Being as a Factor of Social Development”
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