Paweł Zagożdżon, Leszek Zaborski Effect of unemployment variability on risk of death The relationship between unemployment and increased mortality has been reported in western industrialized countries. The aim of this study was to assess the influence of the changes in the level of unemployment on survival in general population in Northern Poland at the time of economic transition. To analyze the association between the unemployment and risk of death we collected survival data from 62736 death certificates and data on rates of unemployment from 8 regions of Gdansk Province from period 1991–1996. Kaplan-Meier method and Cox proportional hazard model were used in univariate and multivariate analysis. A change of unemployment (percentage) in the year of death in the area of residence, sex and educational level (6 categories) were included into multivariate analysis. The yearly percentage change of unemployment rate was associated with significantly worse overall survival: hazard ratio 1.02 95% confidence interval 1.016 to 1.024. The highest risk associated with the percentage change of unemployment in the area of residence was for death from cardiovascular diseases (hazard ratio 1.036 95% confidence interval 1.032 to 1.042). An increased unemployment was also associated with worse survival compared to no increase or decrease in the level of unemployment (hazard ratio 1.1 95% confidence interval 1.08 to 1.12). Conclusion: The change of unemployment rate may be a useful ecological measure of socioeconomic risk factors influencing survival. Key words: unemployment,  survival, epidemiology

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