Background

The background to this stream of work lies in the recent identification and exploration of a so-called 'Scottish Effect', namely the excess mortality experienced by Scotland compared to England, which cannot be explained by current indices of deprivation. Additional research identified that the areas most affected are situated in Glasgow and the West of Scotland: thus, this can be described as a 'Glasgow effect' as much as a Scottish effect. There is a need, therefore, to compare aspects of Glasgow's health and wellbeing with similar areas within the UK and Europe to understand what lies behind this 'effect'.

Aims

To compare data on the determinants of health and health outcomes in Glasgow with other UK cities, national data, and with regions in Europe, in order to test hypotheses about the causes of Glasgow's enduring ill health.

Specifically, there are three components of this programme of work:

1. Comparisons of Glasgow with other UK cities;
2. Comparisons of Glasgow with Scottish, UK and European survey data; and
3. Comparisons of Glasgow/West of Scotland with similar ex-industrial regions in Europe.

Milestones

1. Comparisons of Glasgow with other UK cities: this analysis is being carried out as part of a PhD running from September 2005 to 2008. A summary version of the thesis will be published by the Centre in 2008.
2. Comparisons of Glasgow with Scottish, UK, and European survey data: the first part of the project (based on Scottish comparisons only) was completed, and published, in July 2007 (full report); the second set of analyses (based on UK and European comparisons)  were published in April 2008 (full report).
3. Comparisons of Glasgow/West of Scotland with similar ex-industrial regions in Europe: a final report was published in April '08.
4. Future collaboration with experts working in the regions identified in this work is underway as a next stage of the project. 

Links

Gray L (2008) Comparisons of Health Related Behaviours & Health Measures between Glasgow & Other Regional Areas in Europe

Walsh D and Taulbut M (2007) The Aftershock of Deindustrialisation: Trends in Mortality in Scotland and other parts of post-industrial Europe GCPH and NHS Health Scotland

Gray L (2007) Comparisons of Health Related Behaviours & Health Measures between Glasgow & the Rest of Scotland

Hanlon et al (2005) Why is mortality higher in Scotland than in England and Wales? Decreasing influence of socioeconomic deprivation between 1981 and 2001 supports the existence of a 'Scottish Effect' Journal of Public Health 27 (2); 199-204

PHIS (2001) "Chasing the Scottish Effect: Why Scotland needs a step change in health if it is to catch up with the rest of Europe"

Popham F (2006) "Is there a 'Scottish effect' for self reports of health? Individual level analysis of the 2001 UK census " BioMed Central

Contact

For comparisons with English cities:
James Reid
ISD Scotland
Phone: 0141 282 2044

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For international comparisons using routine data:
David Walsh or Bruce Whyte
Public Health Programme Managers
Glasgow Centre for Population Health
Phone: 0141 221 9439
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For Glasgow-Scotland and European comparisons using survey data:
Linsay Gray
Research Associate
MRC Social and Public Health Sciences Unit
University of Glasgow
Phone: 0141 357 7540
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