Each year of education was on average associated with a 1.9% lower risk of death. After 18 years of education, the risk of death is declined by 34.3% compared to those who did not study.
Moreover, the scientists noticed the greatest effect in people aged 18 to 49 years. However, even among adults over 70 years of age, the reduction in risk of death was about 0.8%.
“The positive correlation between increased years of education and improved health is well known. The main ways in which education is thought to improve health include social, psychosocial, economic and cognitive benefits,” the study authors noted.
Next, the researchers decided to study how these benefits were expressed quantitatively. According to their calculations, each additional year of education reduces the risk of early death by an average of 2%. Moreover, there was not much difference between rich and poor countries, various social groups, genders, and so on.
Thus, the likelihood of early death among people who graduated from school and had higher education, i.e. studied for approximately 18 years, was 34% lower than for those who did not study at all. Therefore, the authors note, education decreases the risk of early death in much the same way as eating the doctor-recommended amount of vegetables daily.
Source: http://surl.li/qjxja
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