PERSONAL HEALTH : Hard Times Can Kill You

The stress of hard economic times takes a toll on health. The 1990-92 recession led to thousands of additional deaths a year from heart disease and hundreds of homicides, a report by two economists suggests.

They estimate that the two-point increase in the unemployment rate, from 5.5% to 7.5% over the last two years, was responsible for the following casualties:

* 35,307 additional deaths from heart disease.

* 2,771 deaths from stroke.

* 1,459 homicides.

* 62,607 violent crimes, including burglary and aggravated assault.

* 223,550 property crimes, including robbery, larceny and auto theft.

The study, “Effects of Diminished Economic Opportunities on Social Stress: Heart Attacks, Strokes and Crime,” looked at statistical data from 30 major metropolitan areas of the United States.

A 1% rise in the jobless rate, the study found, boosts deaths from heart disease by 5.6%, deaths from stroke by 3.1%, homicides by 6.7%, violent crimes by 3.4% and crimes against property by 2.4%.

The study was conducted by Mary Merva and Richard Fowles, economists at the University of Utah, and published by the Economic Policy Institute, a nonprofit Washington think tank.