BEIJING, May 15 (Xinhuanet) -- The gap of overall morality rates between Americans with less than high school education and college graduates increases significantly, according to a study published in Wednesday's issue of PLoS ONE.

    This gap has been attributed to significant decreases in death in the more educated from all causes, including heart disease, cancer, stroke, and other conditions, while death rates in the less educated remain unchanged.

    Researchers made their findings studying data from the National Vital Statistics System and the death certificate information of more than 3.5 million people who died between 1993 and 2001.

    "This study finds the socioeconomic inequalities in mortality rates are not only failing to drop, they are actually increasing in the U.S.," said Otis W. Brawley, M.D., chief executive officer of the American Cancer Society.

    The reason goes to that people with more education have better financial resources, easy access to health insurance and stable employment, and more health literacy.

    As a result, the death rate among the most educated Americans is dropping dramatically, whereas real lacks of progress or even worsening trends in the least educated persons remain, the study added.

    (Agencies)