社經發展與死亡：以台東縣為例

Abstract

目的：探討近四十年來台東縣16個鄉鎮市的死亡率變化趨勢，及其 與地區社會經濟發展的關係。 研究設計：以鄉鎮市為分析單位，相關統計資料來自歷年政府出版品，並以迴歸模式探討地區社經發展程度對鄉鎮市死亡率的影響。 主要結果變項：總死因死亡率。 結果 : 從1965年到2004年，台東縣的標準化死亡率從12.5‰急遽下降為6.1‰；與同一時期臺灣標準化死亡率下降速度相當。值得注意的是，台東縣鄉鎮市之間的死亡率差距並未隨之大幅擴大，最高與最低的比值由1.8倍增加為2.2倍。迴歸分析結果顯示：雖然在不同年代社經發展程度對鄉鎮市死亡率的作用不盡相同，但整體而言，社經發展程度越高的鄉鎮市，死亡率則越低。 結論：台東縣鄉鎮市的死亡率與其社經發展息息相關。為求增進台東縣民的健康，除改善就醫機會外，政府亦應重視台東縣整體與各鄉鎮市的社經發展。

Abstract Research Purpose：To examine the changing mortality trends of 16 townships in Taitung county for recent 40 years, and to find out the relationship between socioeconomic development and mortality of them. Research Design：Township-level analysis with statistical data obtained from official government publications. A regression analysis is applied to examine the effects of socioeconomic development on mortality. Main Outcome Measures：All-cause mortality Results：All-cause mortality in Taitung County rapidly declined from 12.5‰ in 1965 to 6.1‰ in 2004 was approximate to the changing rate in Taiwan. It’s noteworthy that the gap between townships in Taitung county, expressed by the ratio of the highest to the lowest township in mortality, has not widened substantially since it increased from 1.8 for 1965-1974 to 2.2 for 1995-2004. The results of regression analysis shows that : The contribution of socioeconomic development in townships to lowering mortality differed by time stages and worked through different dimensions. Overall, the higher the level of socioeconomic development of a township, the lower its mortality. Conclusion：The mortality of townships in Taitung county is closely related to the level of socioeconomic development of them. In order to achieve better health of people who live in Taitung county, the government should not only strive for improving the availability of medical services, but also socioeconomic development of whole county and all the townships.