Erklärungsansatz für die Zweiteilung des Gesundheitswesens in Deutschland: Bedeutung der häufigsten Todesursachen für die unterschiedliche Lebenserwartung bei der Geburt in Ost und West

In the post war period, the two parts of Germany have pursued very different social and economic paths. These have been associated with a diverging pattern of health, with life expectancy at birth growing much faster in the west, especially during the 1980s. By 1990, for both sexes, the figures were approximately three years longer in the west. Using the method developed by Pollard, we have measured the contribution of deaths from different causes and at different ages to overall life expectancy at birth in the German Federal Republic and German Democratic Republic in 1990. For men, deaths at 40 to 60 made the greatest contribution to the difference between the two states but, for women, the maximally affected age groups were somewhat older. The causes contributing most to the difference, for both sexes, were circulatory diseases and accidents and injuries. The possible explanations for these observations and the policy implications are discussed.