Socio- economic determinants off differential mortality in Belgium: hazard models analysis with individual and contextual covariates.

The analysis of socio-economic differentials in Belgian mortality had been seriously hampered so far because of the almost total lack of background variables connected to vital events. Most analyses of mortality therefore had to rely on geographic aggregates. At present, the individual record linkage has broken this deadlock, and the national data set is now ready for analysis for all interestes researchers (national + international). In the near future this record linkage will be extended to a third source, i.e. the records of causes of death kept the National Institute of Statistics. This will result in a complete National Data Bank on Mrtality and Morbidity.