Table 1.
Descriptive analyses of the Longitudinal Study
| Mean (SD) | Median | 10th centile | 90th centile | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Air pollution exposure (μg/m3) | ||||
| BS 1971 | 42.7 (20.4) | 41 | 18.5 | 70.5 |
| SO2 1971 | 85.2 (36.8) | 77 | 44.5 | 137 |
| BS 1981 | 16.2 (5.2) | 16 | 8.5 | 25 |
| SO2 1981 | 43.1 (12.1) | 41.5 | 25.5 | 66 |
| BS 1991 | 11.8 (4.7) | 12 | 3 | 19 |
| SO2 1991 | 29.6 (6.5) | 29.5 | 19 | 40.5 |
| PM10 2001* | 20.7 (2.5) | 20 | 18 | 24 |
| Age in years | ||||
| Age in 1971 | 38 (22.9) | 30 | 7 | 68 |
| Age in 1981 | 43.3 (20.8) | 42 | 13 | 77 |
| Age in 1991 | 48.9 (18.6) | 47 | 22 | 80 |
| Age in 2001 | 54.3 (16) | 53 | 32 | 82 |
| Population density (per km) 1971 | 3486.2 (3075.1) | 2915.6 | 206.4 | 7187.6 |
| Number of deaths by year | 1972–1981 | 1982–1991 | 1992–2001 | 2002–2009 |
| All-cause excluding accidents | 48, 834 | 47 775 | 45 736 | 31 744 |
| Cardiovascular (CV) | 26 140 | 23 923 | 20 054 | 11 876 |
| Cardiovascular mortality: CHD | 14 050 | 13 461 | 6,219 | 5613 |
| Cardiovascular mortality: Stroke | 6401 | 6189 | 4803 | 810 |
| Respiratory | 6959 | 5300 | 7302 | 4598 |
| Respiratory mortality: Respiratory Infections | 4219 | 2364 | 4272 | 2109 |
| Respiratory mortality: COPD | 2259 | 2413 | 2319 | 1644 |
| Lung cancer | 3185 | 3154 | 2731 | 1920 |
| Gender | Number | Per cent |
|---|---|---|
| Males | 175 532 | 47.7 |
| Females | 192 126 | 52.3 |
| Non-movers (1966–1971) | 223 055 | 60.7 |
| Region 1971 | ||
| Northern | 26 243 | 7.1 |
| Yorkshire/Humber | 39 853 | 10.8 |
| North West | 52 114 | 14.2 |
| East Midlands | 29 582 | 8.1 |
| West Midlands | 34 535 | 9.4 |
| East Anglia | 13 602 | 3.7 |
| South East | 67 538 | 18.4 |
| South West | 31 726 | 8.6 |
| Wales | 22 155 | 6.0 |
| Inner London | 17 863 | 4.9 |
| Outer London | 32 447 | 8.8 |
| Individual-level social class 1971 (Registrar General occupational categories) | ||
| I Professional | 11 381 | 3.1 |
| II Intermediate | 49 427 | 13.5 |
| III(N) Skilled non-manual | 50 789 | 13.8 |
| III(M) Skilled manual | 90 082 | 24.5 |
| IV Semi-skilled manual | 53 415 | 14.5 |
| V Unskilled manual | 20 220 | 5.5 |
| Armed forces and inadequately described | 25 860 | 7.0 |
| Other economically inactive/student/childcare/retired/permanently sick | 66 260 | 18.0 |
| Area-level deprivation 1971 (Carstairs quintile) | ||
| 1 (least deprived) | 69 608 | 19.0 |
| 2 | 74 140 | 20.2 |
| 3 | 75 428 | 20.6 |
| 4 | 75 511 | 20.6 |
| 5 (most deprived) | 72 202 | 19.7 |
*Given the finer 100 m resolution for PM10, only integer values of PM10 were permitted by ONS for analysis because of concerns that more decimal places might allow identifiability in the linked dataset. Source: ONS Longitudinal Study (authors’ own work).
BS, black smoke; CHD, coronary heart disease; ONS, Office for National Statistics.