Evolution of educational inequalities in site-specific cancer mortality among Belgian men between the 1990s and 2000s using a “fundamental cause” perspective

Table 2 Descriptive statistics for the Belgian male study population aged 50–79 years for the periods 1991–1997 and 2001–2008

	1991–1997	2001–2008
Number of men aged 50–79 years during follow-up	1,714,999	1,967,404
Percentage of the total male population aged 50–79 years during follow-up	35.17%	39.28%
Person-years	9,048,137	10,362,159
Number of cancer deaths	76,117	70,181
Distribution of education (%)
Lower secondary or less	73.14	56.68
Upper secondary	15.26	21.92
Tertiary education	10.65	21.40

Source: censuses of 1991 and 2001 linked to Population and Mortality Register Data for the periods 1991–1997 and 2001–2008

ISSN: 1471-2407