Mortality differentiation in Russia's regions: the multidimensional grouping method

A scientific and practical approach that allows assessing regional differentiation of population mortality by main causes is of great importance for managing the Russia’s demographic development. In view of the significant spread of mortality rates from the main classes of causes and their share in the total number of deaths among the entities of the Russian Federation, it is important to carry out an analysis taking into account both characteristics. The purpose of the research is to study the mortality differentiation by causes in Russia’s regions usinga structural multidimensional grouping according to the ratio of mortality from each class of death causes, and their share in the general mortality structure. The information base is the Rosstat statistical data for 2009 and 2018. In the work, the author uses the structural multidimensional grouping method which makes it possible to assess not only the scale of mortality differentiation from certain causes at the subnational level, but also, at the same time, their contribution to mortality. In the course of methodology approbation, four types of regions are identified for each class of causes: regions with a high level and mortality contribution from the class of causes (“mortality centers”); with a moderate level and mortality contribution from the class of causes; with a low level and mortality contribution from the class of causes; with mismatched parameters of the level and mortality contribution from the class of causes. Building allocation of “mortality centers” by the number of classes of death causes allows determining the degree of their vulnerability, and the ratio of classes of death causes that indirectly characterize the stage of epidemiological transition in these regions. The multidimensional grouping method, proposed and tested in this paper, is both a theoretical and methodological scientific novelty (a new approach to the study of regional differentiation) and a practical one (due to the identification of “mortality centers”, appropriate management solutions can be developed).