61:10099 Andreev, E.
M.; Biryukov, V. A.; Shaburov, K. Ju. Life expectancy in
the former USSR and mortality dynamics by cause of death: regional
aspects. European Journal of Population/Revue Europeenne de
Demographie, Vol. 10, No. 3, 1994. 275-85 pp. Hingham,
Massachusetts/Dordrecht, Netherlands. In Eng.
"The purpose of our
paper is to present recent trends of mortality in the former USSR in
terms of demographic transition theory....Analysis of data on mortality
dynamics by age and cause of death allows us to consider some features
of the progress of the demographic transition....The principal causes
of the discrepancy between the former USSR and Western countries appear
to follow first of all from considerably lower living standards....The
second principal cause of unfavourable patterns of mortality was an
unhealthy environment in the workplace and at home." The focus is on
the 1980s.
Correspondence: E. M. Andreev, Goskomstat of
Russia, Institute of Statistics and Economic Studies, Department of
Demography, 51 Malaya Gruzinskaya Street, 123557 Moscow, Russia.
Location: Princeton University Library (SPR).
61:10100 Bengtsson,
Tommy. Combined time-series and life-event analysis: the
impact of economic fluctuations and air temperature on adult mortality
by sex and occupation in a Swedish mining parish, 1757-1850. In:
Old and new methods in historical demography, edited by David S. Reher
and Roger Schofield. 1993. 239-56 pp. Clarendon Press: Oxford, England.
In Eng.
"In the present chapter I attempt to combine time-series
analysis with an event-history approach to study whether harvest
fluctuations influenced age- and sex-specific mortality rates in
different social and economic groups equally, by analysing demographic
data that relate to individuals in a single parish in combination with
information on community-wide economic cycles and air temperatures."
The data are for the period 1757-1850 and concern the Swedish mining
parish of Vastansfors. The results show that it is possible to analyze
the impact of annual environmental changes on very small
populations.
Correspondence: T. Bengtsson, University of
Lund, Department of Economic History, P.O. Box 7083, 220 07 Lund,
Sweden. Location: Princeton University Library (SPR).
61:10101 Eberstadt,
Nicholas. Mortality and the fate of communist states.
Communist Economies and Economic Transformation, Vol. 5, No. 4, 1993.
499-517 pp. Abingdon, England. In Eng.
The author suggests that the
general tendency to overestimate the economic success of communist
countries by Western scholars before the breakup of the Soviet Union
was due primarily to a failure to take proper account of demographic
factors, and particularly declines occurring in life expectancy. "The
first section reviews the anomalous history of mortality trends in
Central and Eastern Europe and the USSR between the end of the Second
World War and the 'end of the Cold War'. The second draws inferences
about economic performance in those countries from their mortality
trends. The third examines some characteristic differences in mortality
trends between those areas in which communist rule has recently
collapsed and those in which it continues, and speculates about the
significance of the distinction. The final section discusses the
significance of current mortality trends for post-communist societies,
especially as they pertain to the prospective transition to a stable
economic and political order."
Correspondence: N.
Eberstadt, American Enterprise Institute, 1150 17th Street NW,
Washington, D.C. 20036. Location: World Bank, Joint Bank-Fund
Library, Washington, D.C.
61:10102 Ellman,
Michael; Maksudov, S. Soviet deaths in the Great Patriotic
War: a note. Europe-Asia Studies, Vol. 46, No. 4, 1994. 671-80
pp. Abingdon, England. In Eng.
The authors attempt a synthesis of
recent research in the USSR and post-Soviet Russia on Soviet mortality
during World War II. They conclude that the official estimate adopted
since 1990 of 26 to 27 million deaths is probably accurate, and note
that most of the Soviet citizens who died were
civilians.
Correspondence: M. Ellman, University of
Amsterdam, Faculty of Economics and Econometrics, Roetersstraat 11,
1018 WB Amsterdam, Netherlands. Location: Princeton University
Library (PR).
61:10103 Ellman,
Michael. The increase in death and disease under
"katstroika" Cambridge Journal of Economics, Vol. 18, No. 4, Aug
1994. 329-55 pp. London, England. In Eng.
The author describes
recent trends in mortality and morbidity in the successor states to the
former Soviet Union. Separate consideration is given to mortality
under late perestroika (1987-1991) and subsequent mortality trends.
The author concludes that "the collapse of the USSR and the problems of
the successor states have had severe adverse affects not only on
macroeconomic indices but also on the mortality and morbidity of the
population....Since the collapse of the USSR, the mortality situation
in the successor states has rapidly and significantly worsened. Between
1991 and 1993 the crude death rate in Russia rose by 26%. As a result,
by 1993 the life expectancy at birth of Russian men had fallen to about
59, which is about 6 years below the level of 1987....By 1993, male
life expectancy at birth in Russia had fallen below the level of the
medium income countries and had probably fallen to a level about that
of Indonesia in the second half of the 1980s. Ukraine has also
experienced an increase in mortality since the collapse of the USSR.
In other successor states, experiencing serious military conflicts,
such as Tadjikstan and Armenia, the proportionate increase in mortality
was even larger than in Russia."
Correspondence: M. Ellman,
University of Amsterdam, Spui 21, 1012 WX Amsterdam, Netherlands.
Location: Princeton University Library (PF).
61:10104 Godfrey, A.
Elizabeth; Chevarley, Frances M.; Rosenberg, Harry M.; Kochanek,
Kenneth D.; Feinleib, Manning. Mortality Surveillance
System: models from the second year. Vital and Health Statistics,
Series 20: Data from the National Vital Statistics System, No. 22,
Pub. Order No. DHHS (PHS) 95-1859. LC 92-48958. Oct 1994. vi, 82 pp.
U.S. National Center for Health Statistics [NCHS]: Hyattsville,
Maryland. In Eng.
"This is the second report presenting statistical
charts and text from the Mortality Surveillance System (MSS)....[It]
presents the statistical charts and text from the second year of the
MSS as published in the [Mortality Vital Statistics Report] volume 39,
number 2-volume 40, number 1. Also presented are the monthly data used
in fitting the models depicted in the published charts and the model
statistics for the fitted curves." The data presented concern death
rates from various causes, and infant, postneonatal, and neonatal
mortality rates.
For the first report, presenting similar data from
the first year of the system, see 59:30086.
Correspondence: U.S. Government Printing Office,
Superintendent of Documents, Mail Stop SSOP, Washington, D.C.
20402-9328. Location: Princeton University Library (SPR).
61:10105 Grover,
Steven A.; Gray-Donald, Katherine; Joseph, Lawrence; Abrahamowicz,
Michal; Coupal, Louis. Life expectancy following dietary
modification or smoking cessation: estimating the benefits of a
prudent lifestyle. Archives of Internal Medicine, Vol. 154, No.
15, Aug 8, 1994. 1,697-704 pp. Chicago, Illinois. In Eng.
The
authors "evaluate the maximum benefits of dietary modification or
smoking cessation to the life expectancy of North American adults.
Using a computer model, we estimated the change in life expectancy for
men and women following risk factor modification. We then estimated
the total number of adults who would be targeted by national guidelines
and the total person-years of life that would be saved....Younger men,
aged 30 to 59 years, might live slightly longer after dietary change,
but among women and older men the average benefits would be negligible.
The benefits of smoking cessation are more uniform across age and sex
and are substantially greater than those predicted for dietary
change."
Correspondence: S. A. Grover, Montreal General
Hospital, Centre for the Analysis of Cost-Effective Care, 1650 Cedar
Avenue, Montreal, Quebec H3G 1A4, Canada. Location: Princeton
University Library (SPR).
61:10106 Guha,
Sumit. The importance of social intervention in England's
mortality decline: the evidence reviewed. Social History of
Medicine, Vol. 7, No. 1, Apr 1994. 89-113 pp. Oxford, England. In Eng.
"This paper examines the first phase of England's mortality
decline, which commenced in the middle of the eighteenth century, and
proceeded fitfully down to the end of the nineteenth. It finds that
recent research in population history has weakened the explanation
known as the McKeown thesis, but that the alternative synthesis,
developed by Szreter, does not stand up well to a scrutiny of the
evidence for London in the eighteenth, and England in the nineteenth
century, especially the evidence on infant mortality and morbidity. It
concludes by pointing out that, contrary to the received version,
diarrhoeal diseases continued in defiance of late-Victorian public
health measures, but appear to have become less lethal, sharing in the
general decline in the lethality of illness found by J. C. Riley for
the second half of the nineteenth century."
Correspondence:
S. Guha, Nehru Memorial Museum and Library, Center for Contemporary
Studies, Teen Murti House, New Delhi 110 001, India. Location:
U.S. National Library of Medicine, Bethesda, MD.
61:10107 Hoyert,
Donna L. Effect on mortality rates of the 1989 change in
tabulating race. Vital and Health Statistics, Series 20: Data
from the National Vital Statistics System, No. 25, Pub. Order No. DHHS
(PHS) 94-1853. ISBN 0-8406-0493-9. LC 94-22721. Sep 1994. iii, 28 pp.
U.S. National Center for Health Statistics [NCHS]: Hyattsville,
Maryland. In Eng.
"The report discusses the effect of the change in
tabulation from race of child to race of mother on mortality rates.
Infant, fetal, perinatal, and maternal mortality rates are shown by
race of child and race of mother for 1970-89 [for the United
States]."
Correspondence: U.S. National Center for Health
Statistics, 6525 Belcrest Road, Hyattsville, MD 20782.
Location: Princeton University Library (SPR).
61:10108 Imhof,
Arthur E. Life expectancies in Germany, Norway, and Sweden
in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. [Lebenserwartungen in
Deutschland, Norwegen und Schweden im 19. und 20. Jahrhundert.] ISBN
3-05-002451-8. 1994. 725 pp. Akademie Verlag: Berlin, Germany. In Ger.
This collection of papers by various authors focuses on changes in
life expectancy in Germany, Norway, and Sweden during the nineteenth
and twentieth centuries. The data and methods are first described, and
statistical results are then presented. Chapters are included on
sources and methods for studying mortality; the increase in life
expectancy and changes in causes of death in Germany; generational
mortality in Norway, 1846-1980; Germany, 1871-1945; Germany after 1945;
mortality, illness, and society in Norway from the end of the
eighteenth century to the present; and life expectancy in Sweden,
1750-1900.
Correspondence: Akademie Verlag, Muhlenstrasse
33-34, 13187 Berlin, Germany. Location: Princeton University
Library (SPR).
61:10109 Kearns,
G. The urban disadvantage and the decline in mortality in
England and Wales, 1851-1900. [Le handicap urbain et le declin de
la mortalite en Angleterre et au Pays de Galles 1851-1900.] Annales de
Demographie Historique, 1993. 75-105 pp. Paris, France. In Fre. with
sum. in Eng.
"This paper [contains] research on the causes
of...mortality in England and Wales during the second half of [the]
nineteenth century their evolution and the very large difference
between the cities and the country...." Particular attention is given
to methodological difficulties inherent in such
studies.
Correspondence: G. Kearns, University of
Liverpool, Department of Geography, P.O. Box 147, Liverpool L69 3BX,
England. Location: Princeton University Library (SPR).
61:10110 Lee, Ronald
D.; Rofman, Rafael. Modeling and projecting mortality in
Chile. [Modelacion y proyeccion de la mortalidad en Chile.] Notas
de Poblacion, Vol. 22, No. 59, Jun 1994. 183-213 pp. Santiago, Chile.
In Spa. with sum. in Eng.
"In a recent paper, Lee and Carter
developed a new method for analyzing and forecasting time series of age
specific mortality, and applied it to the U.S. population. In this
paper, we extend that method to deal with various problems of
incomplete data common in Third World populations, and then apply the
method to forecast mortality in Chile."
For the article by Lee and
Carter, published in 1992, see 58:30105.
Correspondence:
R. D. Lee, University of California, Department of Demography, 2232
Piedmont Avenue, Berkeley, CA 94720. Location: Princeton
University Library (SPR).
61:10111 Manton, K.
G.; Singer, Burton. What's the fuss about compression of
mortality? Chance, Vol. 7, No. 4, 1994. 21-30 pp. New York, New
York. In Eng.
The authors examine some implications of current
trends in life expectancy and morbidity in developed countries such as
the United States. In particular, they "demonstrate, empirically, that
there is as yet no clear evidence supporting the idea of compression of
mortality in either human populations or in experimental animal models;
discuss statistical and mathematical modeling issues--including open
research problems pertaining to the measurement of compression of
mortality, morbidity, and disability; [and] relate debates about
compression to population forecasting and health policy
agendas."
Correspondence: B. Singer, Princeton University,
Office of Population Research, 21 Prospect Avenue, Princeton, NJ
08544-2091. Location: Princeton University Library (SPR).
61:10112
Martikainen, Pekka. Women's employment, marriage,
motherhood and mortality: a test of the multiple role and role
accumulation hypotheses. Social Science and Medicine, Vol. 40, No.
2, Jan 1995. 199-212 pp. Tarrytown, New York/Oxford, England. In Eng.
"Two contrasting hypotheses on the effects of combining marital,
parental and work roles on mortality are analysed in this paper. The
'multiple role' hypothesis suggests that the effects are harmful, but
the 'role accumulation' hypothesis argues that the benefits will
outweigh the possible harmful effects. This paper uses record linkage
data for all 35-64 year-old non-pensioned Finnish women to examine the
two hypotheses." The author concludes that "neither of the hypotheses
on multiple roles are very relevant for the analysis of female
mortality and that more attention should be devoted to understanding
the contribution of possible selection effects leading to marriage and
motherhood and the contribution of the 'healthy worker effect' in
creating low mortality for the employed."
Correspondence:
P. Martikainen, University of Helsinki, Department of Sociology,
Population Research Unit, P.O. Box 33, 00014 Helsinki, Finland.
Location: Princeton University Library (PR).
61:10113 Mitra, S.;
Denny, Clark. On the application of a model of
mortality. Canadian Studies in Population, Vol. 21, No. 2, 1994.
117-32 pp. Edmonton, Canada. In Eng. with sum. in Fre.
"A two
parameter model of mortality is presented which is a simplification of
an earlier three parameter model formulated by Mitra (1983)....The
parameters measure two dimensions: the level and the pattern of
mortality. The model is applied to real and model life tables and
compared with Brass's logit model. The model is shown to fit as well
as the Brass model without the difficulty of choosing a standard
table."
Correspondence: S. Mitra, Emory University,
Department of Sociology, Atlanta, GA 30322. Location:
Princeton University Library (SPR).
61:10114 Nault,
Francois; Ford, David. An overview of deaths in Canada in
1992. [Un survol de la mortalite au Canada en 1992.] Health
Reports/Rapports sur la Sante, Vol. 6, No. 2, 1994. 287-94 pp. Ottawa,
Canada. In Eng; Fre.
The authors review deaths in Canada in 1992,
with a focus on regional variations, sex differences, age-specific
death rates, and the increasing trend toward cremation after
death.
Correspondence: F. Nault, Statistics Canada, Health
Statistics Division, Ottawa, Ontario K1A 0T6, Canada.
Location: Princeton University Library (SPR).
61:10115 Okolski,
Marek. Health and mortality. In: European Population
Conference, 1993. Proceedings. Volume 1. 1994. 119-205 pp. UN
Economic Commission for Europe [ECE]: Geneva, Switzerland; Council of
Europe: Strasbourg, France. In Eng.
The author examines mortality
and morbidity trends in Europe and North America in the 1980s and
1990s, with a focus on problems of the elderly, regional differences,
and socioeconomic variations. Health policies in the 1980s are
described and assessed, and options for future health-related policies
are outlined. Comments by Graziella Caselli are included (pp.
193-205).
Correspondence: M. Okolski, Warsaw University,
Department of Economics, Dluga 44/50 Street, 00-241 Warsaw, Poland.
Location: Princeton University Library (SPR).
61:10116
Paffenbarger, Ralph S.; Kampert, James B.; Lee, I-Min; Hyde,
Robert T.; Leung, Rita W.; Wing, Alvin L. Changes in
physical activity and other lifeway patterns influencing
longevity. Medicine and Science in Sports and Exercise, Vol. 26,
No. 7, 1994. 857-65 pp. Baltimore, Maryland. In Eng.
The effect of
physical activity on male mortality in the United States is examined
using data on nearly 15,000 Harvard University alumni aged 45-84 in
1977. The subjects were surveyed by questionnaire in 1962 or 1966 and
again in 1977. The results indicate that "changes in body-mass index
had little influence on mortality during follow-up. [The] findings fit
the hypothesis that adopting a physically active lifeway, quitting
cigarette smoking, and remaining normotensive independently delay
all-cause mortality and extend longevity."
Correspondence:
R. S. Paffenbarger, Stanford University School of Medicine, Division of
Epidemiology, Stanford, CA 94305-5092. Location: Princeton
University Library (SPR).
61:10117 Prata,
Pedro R. The epidemiological transition in Brazil. [A
transicao epidemiologica no Brasil.] Cadernos de Saude Publica, Vol. 8,
No. 2, Apr-Jun 192. 168-75 pp. Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. In Por. with
sum. in Eng.
"The author critically evaluates the evolution of the
Brazilian mortality pattern during the last fifty years under the
framework of the epidemiologic transition theory. The author also
discusses mortality determination as a result of economic development
and preventive measures. He considers that cardiovascular diseases,
neoplasms and injuries are related with environmental and
socio-cultural factors and therefore cannot be considered chronic
degenerative diseases but preventable ones. These groups of disease
are also considered to be unevenly distributed and more prevalent in
deprived populations. The author also refers to the simultaneous
prevalence of two distinct epidemiologic patterns described in the
epidemiologic transition theory, due to the remaining infectious
diseases prevalence or to the outbreak of previously eradicated
infectious diseases in Brazil, leading to an incomplete epidemiologic
transition."
Correspondence: P. R. Prata, Universidade
Federal do Mato Grosso do Sul, Campus Universitario, Campo Grande
79070-900, MS, Brazil. Location: U.S. National Library of
Medicine, Bethesda, MD.
61:10118 Rennert,
Gad. Implications of Russian immigration on mortality
patterns in Israel. International Journal of Epidemiology, Vol.
23, No. 4, Aug 1994. 751-6 pp. Oxford, England. In Eng.
"Official
mortality statistics from Israel and the USSR were compared for
differences in major causes of death. Russian mortality rates were then
incorporated into a calculation taking into account the total size of
the Israeli population and the relative size of the immigrant
population to give the expected overall age-adjusted mortality in
Israel following the wave of immigration....When comparing the
mortality statistics for Israel with those of the former USSR it is
evident that the mortality rate in the latter is significantly
higher....The breakdown of the mortality rates into specific causes of
death discloses a predominance of cardiovascular mortality in both
countries, but while cardiovascular diseases and cancer are responsible
for about 40% and 20% of the total mortality respectively in males from
both countries there is a large difference among females....The
patterns of death from cancer in the two countries also differ
significantly."
Correspondence: G. Rennert, Carmel Medical
Center, Department of Community Medicine and Epidemiology, Kupat Holim
Klalit, Haifa 34362, Israel. Location: Princeton University
Library (SPR).
61:10119 RIFLE
Research Group (Rome, Italy). Presentation of the RIFLE
project: risk factors and life expectancy. European Journal of
Epidemiology, Vol. 9, No. 5, Sep 1993. 459-76 pp. Stuttgart, Germany.
In Eng.
"Plans are presented for conducting an epidemiological
observational project which will pool the data from nine Italian field
studies covering over 70,000 men and women aged 20 to 69 years,
belonging to 52 population samples distributed in 13 different regions
of the country. The main objective is to produce multivariate models
for the prediction of all-cause mortality, life expectancy and selected
causes of death as a function of some baseline characteristics." The
data are for the period 1978-1987.
Correspondence: A.
Menotti, Laboratorio di Epidemiologia e Biostatistica, Istituto
Superiore di Sanita, Viale Regina Elena 299, 00161 Rome, Italy.
Location: U.S. National Library of Medicine, Bethesda, MD.
61:10120 Riley,
James C. Excess mortality in youth. In: Old and new
methods in historical demography, edited by David S. Reher and Roger
Schofield. 1993. 394-409 pp. Clarendon Press: Oxford, England. In Eng.
The phenomenon of excess mortality among youths and young people
aged 12-35 is explored for different historical periods. Data from
Sweden for the period 1755-1985 and Japan for 1891-1985 are used. The
results suggest that excess mortality is not a recent phenomenon, but
that the risk of dying at around 20 years of age from trauma,
particularly among males, has diminished over
time.
Correspondence: J. C. Riley, Indiana University,
Department of History, Bloomington, IN 47405. Location:
Princeton University Library (SPR).
61:10121 Smith, Ken
R.; Waitzman, Norman J. Double jeopardy: interaction
effects of marital and poverty status on the risk of mortality.
Demography, Vol. 31, No. 3, Aug 1994. 487-507 pp. Washington, D.C. In
Eng.
"The purpose of this paper is to examine the hypothesis that
marital and poverty status interact in their effects on mortality risks
beyond their main effects. This study examines the epidemiological
bases for applying an additive rather than a multiplicative
specification when testing for interaction between two discrete risk
factors. We specifically predict that risks associated with being
nonmarried and with being poor interact to produce mortality risks that
are greater than each risk acting independently. The analysis is based
on men and women who were ages 25-74 during the 1971-1975 [U.S.]
National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey I (NHANES I) and who
were traced successfully in the NHANES I Epidemiologic Follow-Up Study
in 1982-1984. Overall, being both poor and nonmarried places
nonelderly (ages 25-64) men, but not women, at risk of mortality
greater than that expected from the main effects. This study shows
that for all-cause mortality, marital and poverty status interact for
men but less so for women; these findings exist when interaction is
assessed with either a multiplicative or an additive standard."
This
is a revised version of a paper originally presented at the 1990 Annual
Meeting of the Population Association of
America.
Correspondence: K. R. Smith, University of Utah,
Department of Family and Consumer Studies, Salt Lake City, UT 84112.
Location: Princeton University Library (SPR).
61:10122 Tabeau,
Ewa; van Poppel, Frans; Willekens, Frans. Mortality in the
Netherlands: the data base. NIDI Rapport, No. 36, ISBN
90-70990-46-6. 1994. 84 pp. Netherlands Interdisciplinary Demographic
Institute [NIDI]: The Hague, Netherlands. In Eng.
"This report
documents the compilation of an extensive data base on mortality in the
Netherlands over the period 1850-1991....The set contains observations
on three variables: the number of deaths by sex, single year of age,
year of death, and year of birth, the number of people by sex and
single year of age on the end of each year, and the number of live
births by sex....The report offers an introduction to
[age-period-cohort] analysis, describes original data sources used for
the compilation, and documents the various steps of the compilation
process."
Correspondence: Netherlands Interdisciplinary
Demographic Institute, P.O. Box 11650, 2502 AR The Hague, Netherlands.
Location: Princeton University Library (SPR).
61:10123 United
Nations. Economic Commission for Africa [ECA]. Population Division
(Addis Ababa, Ethiopia). Assessment of mortality levels,
trends and differentials in relation to the goal of "health for all" by
year 2000 in some ECA member states. No. ECA/POP/TP/92/3b(iv), Nov
1992. 48 pp. Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. In Eng.
This is a review of
current trends in mortality and morbidity in Africa. The focus is on
the countries of Botswana, Kenya, Lesotho, Swaziland, and Tanzania.
The report includes an analysis of mortality levels, trends, and
differentials in each of these five
countries.
Correspondence: UN Economic Commission for
Africa, Population Division, P.O. Box 3001, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.
Location: Princeton University Library (SPR).
61:10124 Valkonen,
Tapani. Trends in regional and socio-economic mortality
differentials in Finland. International Journal of Health
Sciences, Vol. 3, No. 3-4, 1992. 157-66 pp. Assen, Netherlands. In Eng.
Trends in mortality in Finland are reviewed over the past 20 years.
The author notes that "Finnish female life expectancy has increased
more than five years since 1965-1969 and it is now slightly higher than
the average in Western Europe. It is also almost five years higher
than the average life expectancy in Eastern Europe. The male life
expectancy has also risen by more than five years...." However, the
author also states that regional differences in mortality have not
diminished over this period, despite prevention programs designed to
reduce such differences. Furthermore "socio-economic differences in
mortality have increased during the same period among men, but had been
relatively stable among the women."
Correspondence: T.
Valkonen, University of Helsinki, Department of Sociology, Hameentie 68
B, 00550 Helsinki, Finland. Location: Princeton University
Library (SPR).
61:10125 Viscusi, W.
Kip. Mortality effects of regulatory costs and policy
evaluation criteria. RAND Journal of Economics, Vol. 25, No. 1,
Spring 1994. 94-109 pp. Santa Monica, California. In Eng.
This
article concerns the cost benefit of policies designed to reduce risks
of mortality in specific instances. The author points out that "risk
regulations directly reduce risk, but they may produce offsetting risk
increases. Regulated risks generate a substitution effect, as
individuals' risk-averting actions will diminish. Recognition of these
effects alters benefit-cost criteria and the value-of-life estimates
pertinent to policy analysis. Particularly expensive risk regulations
may be counterproductive. The expenditure level that will lead to the
loss of one statistical life equals the value of life divided by the
marginal propensity to spend on health. Regulations with a cost of $30
million to $70 million per life saved will, on balance, have a net
adverse effect on mortality because of these
linkages."
Correspondence: W. K. Viscusi, Duke University,
Durham, NC 27706. Location: Princeton University Library
(PF).
61:10126 Wasserman,
Ira; Stack, Steven. Testing the deathdip and deathrise
hypothesis: Ohio mortality results, 1989-1991. Canadian Studies
in Population, Vol. 21, No. 2, 1994. 133-48 pp. Edmonton, Canada. In
Eng. with sum. in Fre.
"The study develops a multivariate model
that controls for age, gender, marital status, and education. In order
to determine whether there is a death-dip before birthdays, and/or a
death-rise after birthdays, the research uses dummy variables that
determine whether an individual is more likely to die a week before
their birthday, and/or a week after their birthday. Using Ohio
mortality data from 1989 to 1991 for individuals 18 years of age and
older who died of natural causes, the study estimates the coefficients
in the multivariate model. Age and seasonal effects, as well as
interactions between age and gender and seasonal effects, are
significant explanators of the difference between deathday and
birthday. However, the study also found that individuals were more
likely to die in the week after the birthday. The results lend support
to the deathrise hypothesis."
Correspondence: I. Wasserman,
Eastern Michigan University, Ypsilanti, MI 48197. Location:
Princeton University Library (SPR).
61:10127 Yun,
Zhou. Mortality estimation of Hopi American Indians:
1911-1937. In: Studies in applied demography, edited by K.
Vaninadha Rao and Jerry W. Wicks. 1994. 347-52 pp. Bowling Green State
University, Department of Sociology, Population and Society Research
Center: Bowling Green, Ohio. In Eng.
"The focus of this study is
the estimation of general mortality and infant mortality of the Hopi
population [in the United States between 1911 and 1937]....The paper
has used two different methods, one to estimate infant mortality and
the other to estimate general mortality. In this study, the estimation
of infant mortality is more accurate than that of general
mortality."
Correspondence: Z. Yun, Arizona State
University, Department of Anthropology, Tempe, AZ 85287.
Location: Princeton University Library (SPR).
61:10128 Bartlett,
Alfred; Paz de Bocaletti, Maria E.; Bocaletti, Marco A.
Reducing perinatal mortality in developing countries: high risk or
improved labour management? Health Policy and Planning, Vol. 8,
No. 4, Dec 1993. 360-8 pp. Oxford, England. In Eng.
Data from a
one-year longitudinal study of births in a traditional indigenous rural
community in Guatemala are used to test the assumption that high-risk
maternal characteristics can be identified by a screening process to
maximize the use of limited health resources. The results suggest that
"the maternal risk screening and classification approach does not have
adequate predictive value to assign obstetric resources. Interventions
based on improved detection, management, and referral of complicated
labours and deliveries might be effective interim strategies for
obstetric risk management in such
settings."
Correspondence: A. Bartlett, U.S. Agency for
International Development, Bureau of Research and Development, SA-18
Room 1264, 320 21st Street NW, Washington, D.C. 20523-1817.
Location: U.S. National Library of Medicine, Bethesda, MD.
61:10129 Schieber,
Barbara; O'Rourke, Kathleen; Rodriguez, Carmen; Bartlett,
Alfred. Risk factor analysis of peri-neonatal mortality in
rural Guatemala. Bulletin of the Pan American Health Organization,
Vol. 28, No. 3, Sep 1994. 229-38 pp. Washington, D.C. In Eng.
"The
three aims of the work reported here were to identify important
predictors of peri-neonatal mortality within a rural area of Guatemala;
to assess the effects of traditional and modern health care providers
on such mortality; and to find ways of identifying high-risk women who
might benefit from transfer to a hospital or clinic. For these
purposes a case-control study was conducted of 120 women in the rural
department of Quetzaltenango who had lost their babies from the 20th
week of pregnancy through the 28th day of life....It was found that the
complications of pregnancy and delivery with the greatest statistical
significance were prematurity, malpresentation, and prolonged labor.
Population-based attributable risks of these complications demonstrated
that they accounted for significant proportions of the observed
peri-neonatal mortality."
Correspondence: K. O'Rourke,
University of Massachusetts, School of Public Health, 418 Arnold House,
Amherst, MA 01003. Location: Princeton University Library
(SPR).
61:10130 Adetunji,
Jacob A. Infant mortality and mother's education in Ondo
State, Nigeria. Social Science and Medicine, Vol. 40, No. 2, Jan
1995. 253-63 pp. Tarrytown, New York/Oxford, England. In Eng.
This
is an analysis of data from the 1986-1987 Ondo State, Nigeria,
Demographic and Health Survey to try and establish why infant mortality
seems to be higher among children of secondary school graduates than
children of less educated mothers. The results indicate that
breast-feeding patterns and maternal age were the most significant
factors affecting infant mortality.
Correspondence: J. A.
Adetunji, Harvard University, Center for Population and Development
Studies, 9 Bow Street, Cambridge, MA 02138. Location:
Princeton University Library (PR).
61:10131 Adetunji,
Jacob A. Infant mortality in Nigeria: effects of place of
birth, mother's education and region of residence. Journal of
Biosocial Science, Vol. 26, No. 4, Oct 1994. 469-77 pp. Cambridge,
England. In Eng.
"This paper examines the effects of a child's
place of birth, mother's education, region of residence and rural and
urban residence on infant mortality in Nigeria between 1965 and 1979,
using data from the 1981/82 Nigeria Fertility Survey. Infant mortality
rates declined in all regions between 1965 and 1979. Children born in
modern health facilities, irrespective of their mothers' place of
residence, experienced significantly lower rates of infant mortality
than those born elsewhere. Logistic regression analysis showed that
all other variables tested were also significant, although some to a
lesser degree."
Correspondence: J. A. Adetunji, Harvard
University, School of Public Health, Center for Population and
Development Studies, 9 Bow Street, Cambridge, MA 02138.
Location: Princeton University Library (SPR).
61:10132 Bajkhaif,
Mohammed O.; Mahadevan, Kuttan. Infant mortality of Indian
Muslims: determinants and implications. ISBN 81-7018-737-0. 1993.
xxi, 150 pp. B. R. Publishing: Delhi, India. In Eng.
An analysis of
infant mortality among the Muslim population of India is presented.
The data concern two sects of Indian Muslims, the Sunnis and Dudekulas,
living in south central India, and were collected in 1989-1990: 500
couples were included in the study from each community using a
multi-stage random sampling procedure. Path analysis is used to
identify both direct and indirect factors affecting infant mortality in
the two communities. "The path-analysis results show that the type of
delivery attendant and general health of mother are important variables
which show very high significant influence on infant mortality in both
Muslims groups. Mother's age at marriage, house sanitation index and
family income equally manifest negative influence on infant mortality.
Education of mother and hygienic index also show a negative influence
on infant mortality though their influence is much reduced compared to
other variables."
Correspondence: B. R. Publishing, 29/9
Nangia Park, Shakti Nagar, Delhi 100 007, India. Location:
Princeton University Library (SPR).
61:10133 Basu, Alaka
M. Maternal education, fertility and child mortality:
disentangling verbal relationships. Health Transition Review, Vol.
4, No. 2, Oct 1994. 207-15 pp. Canberra, Australia. In Eng.
"In
this paper, I want to...disentangle in words the mediating roles of the
maternal education-fertility and maternal education-child mortality
relationships. Can at least a part of the education-child mortality
relation be explained through the education-fertility relation and vice
versa? Even if the result is a surfeit of words which are virtually
impossible to test empirically, the theoretical possibilities should
not be discounted."
Correspondence: A. M. Basu, Cornell
University, Division of Nutritional Sciences, Ithaca, NY 14853.
Location: Princeton University Library (SPR).
61:10134
Brockerhoff, Martin; De Rose, Laurie F. Parental
education and child survival: can the DHS tell us anything new?
Health Transition Review, Vol. 4, No. 2, Oct 1994. 192-6 pp. Canberra,
Australia. In Eng.
"The World Fertility Survey (WFS) and the
Demographic and Health Surveys (DHS) have been the foundation for most
generalizations regarding the causal impact of parental education on
child mortality. Given the limitations of these data sets, it is
appropriate to question whether conclusions based on these surveys are
justified; a clear understanding of the true relations between
education and mortality must precede further study of the mechanisms
linking the two....We also explore whether further analysis of the DHS
is likely to contribute to our understanding of the link between
parental education and child mortality."
Correspondence: M.
Brockerhoff, Population Council, Research Division, One Dag
Hammarskjold Plaza, New York, NY 10017. Location: Princeton
University Library (SPR).
61:10135
Brockerhoff, Martin. The impact of rural-urban
migration on child survival. Health Transition Review, Vol. 4, No.
2, Oct 1994. 127-49 pp. Canberra, Australia. In Eng.
"This study
uses data from Demographic and Health Surveys in 17 countries to assess
the impact of maternal rural-urban migration on the survival chances of
children under age two in the late 1970s and 1980s. Results show that,
before migration, children of migrant women had similar or slightly
higher mortality risks than children of women who remained in the
village. In the two-year period surrounding their mother's migration,
their chances of dying increased sharply as a result of accompanying
their mothers or being left behind, to levels well above those of rural
and urban non-migrant children. Children born after migrants had
settled in the urban area, however, gradually experienced much better
survival chances than children of rural non-migrants, as well as lower
mortality risks than migrants' children born in rural areas before
migration."
Correspondence: M. Brockerhoff, Population
Council, Research Division, One Dag Hammarskjold Plaza, New York, NY
10017. Location: Princeton University Library (SPR).
61:10136 Caldwell,
John C. How is greater maternal education translated into
lower child mortality? Health Transition Review, Vol. 4, No. 2,
Oct 1994. 224-9 pp. Canberra, Australia. In Eng.
The author reviews
papers included in a special Forum section of this journal issue, which
focuses on the relationship between maternal education and child
mortality.
Correspondence: J. C. Caldwell, Australian
National University, National Centre for Epidemiology and Population
Health, Health Transition Centre, Canberra, ACT 0200, Australia.
Location: Princeton University Library (SPR).
61:10137 de Almeida,
Luis E. A.; Barbieri, Marco A.; Gomes, Uilho A.; dos Reis, Patricia M.;
Chiaratti, Telma M.; Vasconcelos, Valeria; Bettiol, Heloisa.
Birthweight, social class, and infant mortality in Ribeirao Preto,
Sao Paulo. [Peso ao nascer, classe social e mortalidade infantil
em Ribeirao Preto, Sao Paulo.] Cadernos de Saude Publica, Vol. 8, No.
2, Apr-Jun 1992. 190-8 pp. Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. In Por. with sum. in
Eng.
An analysis of infant mortality in Brazil is presented using
data for women who had live-born children in hospitals in the city of
Ribeirao Preto. The results indicate differences in mortality by birth
weight and social class. Lower socioeconomic status was associated
with low birth weight and higher infant
mortality.
Correspondence: L. E. A. de Almeida,
Universidade de Sao Paulo, Faculdade de Medicina, Departamento de
Puericultura e Pediatria, Avenida Bandeirantes 3900, Ribeirao Preto
14049-900, SP, Brazil. Location: U.S. National Library of
Medicine, Bethesda, MD.
61:10138 de Vries,
R. F. Child health in developing countries: towards new
means of grasping an old problem. Groningen Demographic Reports,
No. 14, 1992. [5], 59 pp. University of Groningen, Faculty of Spatial
Sciences, Population Research Centre: Groningen, Netherlands. In Eng.
"This study examines theoretical research on child health and child
mortality in developing countries. It discusses the recent development
of intermediate variables models. These models are conceptual
frameworks, in which the factors that influence morbidity and mortality
directly (intermediate variables) are separated from socio-economic
factors that exert indirect influence."
Correspondence:
University of Groningen, Faculty of Spatial Sciences, Population
Research Centre, P.O. Box 800, 9700 AV Groningen, Netherlands.
Location: Princeton University Library (SPR).
61:10139 Estonian
Interuniversity Population Research Centre (Tallinn, Estonia).
Infant mortality: counties 1965-1993. [Imikusuremus:
maakonnad 1965-1993.] Eesti Rahvastikustatistika: Seeria C/Population
Statistics of Estonia: Series C, No. 5, ISBN 9985-820-11-8. 1994.
xxxviii, 120 pp. Tallinn, Estonia. In Eng; Est.
"The volume
contains data on number of infant deaths and stillbirths and infant
mortality rate in Estonia for the period 1965-1993. The collection of
infant death statistics data have been based on the birth and death
certificates filled in by the Civil Registration Office, and for the
last two years, additionally, the birth records of Medical Birth
Register....In the tables, the data are presented by counties (maakond)
and urban settlements (towns and boroughs); for administrative units
the current names...are used throughout the entire
period."
Correspondence: Estonian Interuniversity
Population Research Centre, P.O. Box 3012, 0090 Tallinn, Estonia.
Location: Princeton University Library (SPR).
61:10140 Ewbank,
Douglas C. Maternal education and theories of health
behaviour: a cautionary note. Health Transition Review, Vol. 4,
No. 2, Oct 1994. 215-23 pp. Canberra, Australia. In Eng.
The author
discusses and evaluates various theoretical models concerning the
relationship between maternal education and child
survival.
Correspondence: D. C. Ewbank, University of
Pennsylvania, Population Studies Center, 3718 Locust Walk,
Philadelphia, PA 19104-6297. Location: Princeton University
Library (SPR).
61:10141 Forste,
Renata. The effects of breastfeeding and birth spacing on
infant and child mortality in Bolivia. Population Studies, Vol.
48, No. 3, Nov 1994. 497-511 pp. London, England. In Eng.
"Data
from the Demographic and Health Survey of Bolivia, 1989, are used to
examine the influence of breastfeeding and birth spacing on infant and
child mortality during the first two years of life. Event-history
techniques show that illness which leads to the cessation of lactation,
rather than the cessation of lactation for other reasons, is the
dominant factor contributing to mortality. Where lactation is
separated from the effect of illness, it had no effect on infant and
child survival, except during the very early months of life. Short
birth intervals also increased the risk of dying during the first two
years of life, as did receiving ante-natal care from a
midwife."
Correspondence: R. Forste, Western Washington
University, Department of Sociology, Bellingham, WA 98225-9081.
Location: Princeton University Library (SPR).
61:10142 Frisbie, W.
Parker. Birth weight and infant mortality in the Mexican
origin and Anglo populations. Social Science Quarterly, Vol. 75,
No. 4, Dec 1994. 881-95 pp. Austin, Texas. In Eng.
Standard
decomposition techniques are applied to data from the San Antonio
Metropolitan Health District in Texas and birth records from Bexar
County over the period 1935-1985 to determine the extent to which
differences in birth weight can account for the fact that the socially
disadvantaged Mexican-origin minority has infant mortality rates
similar to the white majority population. "The results indicate that
ethnic differentials in birth weight distributions provide neither a
resolution of the epidemiologic paradox as it exists currently nor an
explanation of why Mexican origin and Anglo infant mortality converged.
In contrast, changes in weight-specific risk constitute by far the
most important explanation in regard to both neonatal and postneonatal
mortality."
Correspondence: W. P. Frisbie, University of
Texas, Population Research Center, 1800 Main Building, Austin, TX
78712. Location: Princeton University Library (PR).
61:10143 Garrett,
Eilidh; Wear, Andrew. Special number on infant and child
mortality. Continuity and Change, Vol. 9, No. 2, Aug 1994. 171-346
pp. Cambridge University Press: Cambridge, England. In Eng. with sum.
in Fre; Ger.
This special issue concerns "the decline in infant
mortality in developed countries from the early years of the twentieth
century to the present....When organizing the conference that in an
indirect way gave rise to this special issue of Continuity and Change
we deliberately invited speakers from different disciplines and with
different spatial, temporal and social perspectives in order to capture
the multifactorial nature of the decline in infant mortality. We hope
this collection of papers also achieves this aim."
Selected items
will be cited in this or subsequent issues of Population
Index.
Correspondence: Cambridge University Press,
Edinburgh Building, Shaftesbury Road, Cambridge CB2 2RU, England.
Location: Princeton University Library (SPR).
61:10144 Garssen,
Joop. Policies and practices in pre- and post-independence
health care: the case of Zanzibar. Groningen Demographic Reports,
No. 15, 1993. vi, 56 pp. University of Groningen, Faculty of Spatial
Sciences, Population Research Centre: Groningen, Netherlands. In Eng.
The author examines the impact of health interventions on infant
and child mortality using data for the island of Zanzibar, Tanzania.
The data concern both the colonial period prior to independence and
more recent data, particularly for the 1980s. The author challenges
commonly held beliefs concerning the inadequacy of colonial health
services, and notes that the health care system in Zanzibar has
deteriorated since independence, primarily because of the collapse of
the island's economy. The failure to develop effective education and
economic policies are seen as major reasons for the underdevelopment of
health services.
Correspondence: University of Groningen,
Faculty of Spatial Sciences, Population Research Centre, P.O. Box 800,
9700 AV Groningen, Netherlands. Location: Princeton University
Library (SPR).
61:10145 Gomez de
Leon Cruces, Jose; Partida Bush, Virgilio. Levels of
infant mortality and fertility in Mexico by state, 1990. [Niveles
de mortalidad infantil y fecundidad en Mexico, por entidad federativa,
1990.] Revista Mexicana de Sociologia, Vol. 55, No. 1, Jan-Mar 1993.
97-135 pp. Mexico City, Mexico. In Spa. with sum. in Eng.
The
authors present estimates of infant mortality in Mexico by state, using
survey and census data for the 1970s and 1980s. They use an
alternative method of calculating infant mortality which suggests that
previous calculations have underestimated the level of both fertility
and infant mortality.
Location: Princeton University
Library (PR).
61:10146 Graham,
David. Female employment and infant mortality: some
evidence from British towns, 1911, 1931 and 1951. Continuity and
Change, Vol. 9, No. 2, Aug 1994. 313-46 pp. Cambridge, England. In Eng.
with sum. in Fre; Ger.
"During the latter part of the nineteenth
century, and for much of the twentieth, many commentators were critical
of female employment since it was their belief that infant life
suffered as a result. Using bivariate and multivariate techniques on
datasets for 51 British towns for the years 1911, 1931 and 1951, the
author explores this hypothesized relationship. Although there was a
significant positive correlation between female employment and infant
mortality in 1911 and 1951, and a positive, though insignificant,
association in 1931, other variables, such as general mortality,
fertility and social class, were found to be influencing the
relationship."
Correspondence: D. Graham, 27 Union Street,
Coleraine, County Derry, Northern Ireland. Location: Princeton
University Library (SPR).
61:10147 Gutierrez,
Gonzalo; Guiscafre, Hector; Reyes, Hortensia; Perez, Ricardo; Vega,
Roxana; Tome, Patricia. Reduction of mortality due to
acute diarrheal diseases. Experiences from a research-action
program. [Reduccion de la mortalidad por enfermedades diarreicas
agudas. Experiencias de un programa de investigacion-accion.] Salud
Publica de Mexico, Vol. 36, No. 2, Mar-Apr 1994. 168-79 pp. Mexico
City, Mexico. In Spa. with sum. in Eng.
Results are presented from
a project designed to reduce mortality from acute diarrhea in children
under five years of age in Mexico. Six alternative strategies were
implemented during the project. The results show that after nine
months, about half of the women involved were able to improve their
home treatment of infantile diarrhea
significantly.
Correspondence: G. Gutierrez, Instituto
Mexicano del Seguro Social, Grupo Interinstitucional de Investigacion
en Sistemas de Salud, Mexico City, DF, Mexico. Location: U.S.
National Library of Medicine, Bethesda, MD.
61:10148 Huck,
Paul. Infant mortality in nine industrial parishes in
northern England, 1813-1836. Population Studies, Vol. 48, No. 3,
Nov 1994. 513-26 pp. London, England. In Eng.
"Evidence about
infant mortality in a number of industrial towns was derived from
baptismal and burial registers of the Anglican Church. The level of
infant mortality during the period 1813-1836, after correction for
underregistration, was comparable to that of British towns during the
second half of the century. Infant mortality increased during this
period, perhaps as a reflection of rapid population growth. In each of
the parishes a winter peak and a summer trough was found in the
seasonal index of infant deaths during this period. This pattern is
very different from the high summer mortality that prevailed in British
towns during the late nineteenth century. However, mortality in the
summer increased over time, thus reducing the depth of the summer
trough in infant deaths, and perhaps represents a movement towards the
summer peak so apparent later in the
century."
Correspondence: P. Huck, Wake Forest University,
Department of Economics, Winston-Salem, NC 27109. Location:
Princeton University Library (SPR).
61:10149 Jain,
Anrudh K. Maternal education and childcare. Health
Transition Review, Vol. 4, No. 2, Oct 1994. 199-206 pp. Canberra,
Australia. In Eng.
"Why are children of educated mothers exposed to
lower risks of morbidity and mortality than those of mothers with
little or no education?...This paper addresses this issue from a
programmatic and policy perspective. It focuses on the identification
of mechanisms through which mothers' education might influence the risk
of child mortality....The data for the present study are taken from a
representative sample survey of married women of reproductive age
conducted in two districts of Gujarat
[India]...."
Correspondence: A. K. Jain, Population
Council, One Dag Hammarskjold Plaza, New York, NY 10017.
Location: Princeton University Library (SPR).
61:10150 Joves,
Maria L. S. The major determinants of infant mortality: a
meta-analysis. Pub. Order No. DA9421480. 1993. 217 pp. University
Microfilms International: Ann Arbor, Michigan. In Eng.
"This
meta-analysis sought to elucidate and explain the decline of infant
mortality worldwide. It aimed to systematically review and
characterize a sample of 60 studies and summarize their findings with a
statistical synthesis." The study was prepared as a doctoral
dissertation at the University of
Pittsburgh.
Correspondence: University Microfilms
International, 300 North Zeeb Road, Ann Arbor, MI 48106-1346.
Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, A: Humanities
and Social Sciences 55(3).
61:10151 Kaufmann,
Georgia; Cleland, John. Maternal education and child
survival: anthropological responses to demographic evidence.
Health Transition Review, Vol. 4, No. 2, Oct 1994. 196-9 pp. Canberra,
Australia. In Eng.
"It is not clear...why education should
apparently have such a universal effect on the risks of child death nor
what constitute the vital ingredients of this powerful relationship:
there is a great need to unpack the contents of the relationship
between mortality and education. Anthropology can often be used to
interpret demographic associations; here we highlight some of the
anthropological responses to questions raised by demographic
evidence."
Correspondence: G. Kaufmann, Harvard University,
Center for Population and Development Studies, 9 Bow Street, Cambridge,
MA 02138. Location: Princeton University Library (SPR).
61:10152
Kidanemariam, Ande; Gallagher, Eugene B.
Theoretical perspectives for explaining infant mortality in the
third world. Central Issues in Anthropology, No. 10, 1992. 8-15
pp. Cleveland, Ohio. In Eng.
The authors analyze differentials in
infant mortality rates in developing countries and attempt to go beyond
the usual economic interpretations of these differences and identify
some of the relevant social and political factors affecting infant
mortality. In particular, they apply "a 'political economy of health'
perspective to infant mortality and seek to account for discrepancies
between economic progress and progress against infant mortality. [The
paper] traces out a four-fold comparison--between countries with
high/low economic development and countries with high/low infant
mortality--for testing hypotheses in the political economy of
health."
Correspondence: A. Kidanemariam, University of
Kentucky, Department of Sociology, Lexington, KY 40506.
Location: Princeton University Library (SPR).
61:10153 Kinlen, L.
J.; John, S. M. Wartime evacuation and mortality from
childhood leukaemia in England and Wales in 1945-9. British
Medical Journal, Vol. 309, No. 6963, Nov 5, 1994. 1,197-202 pp. London,
England. In Eng.
The authors attempt "to discover whether the
wartime government evacuation of children from London and other
population centres to rural districts was associated with any increase
in childhood leukaemia....Mortality from childhood leukaemia was
examined in...three rural categories in 1945-9. Urban areas were also
examined according to their exposure to evacuees....[The] findings
suggest that wartime evacuation increased the incidence of childhood
leukaemia in rural areas and that other forms of population mixing may
have contributed to the increases in past decades. Overall, they add to
the appreciable evidence for an infective basis in childhood
leukaemia."
Correspondence: L. J. Kinlen, University of
Oxford, Cancer Research Campaign Epidemiology Unit, Department of
Public Health and Primary Care, Radcliffe Infirmary, Oxford OX2 6HE,
England. Location: Princeton University Library (SZ).
61:10154 Lee, James;
Wang, Feng; Campbell, Cameron. Infant and child mortality
among the Qing nobility: implications for two types of positive
check. Population Studies, Vol. 48, No. 3, Nov 1994. 395-411 pp.
London, England. In Eng.
"Demographers, as early as Malthus, have
assumed that in traditional China the positive check, mortality, was
largely beyond human control. This paper re-examines the role of the
positive check in late imperial China through an analysis of an
historical source of unprecedented demographic detail and accuracy:
the genealogy of the Qing (1644-1911) imperial lineage....We focus in
this paper...on the patterns of neonatal, infant, and child mortality
for the 33,000 children born in Beijing between 1700 and 1840. In Part
1 we calculate [the] age-specific mortality rates separately for each
sex, and compare the scale and trends of neonatal and child mortality.
In Part 2 we analyse these rates according to the parents' status in
the nobility and marriage-type, to ascertain the social context of
these aspects of mortality in late imperial
China."
Correspondence: J. Lee, California Institute of
Technology, Pasadena, CA 91125. Location: Princeton University
Library (SPR).
61:10155 Mbago,
Maurice C. Y. Some correlates of child mortality in the
refugee populated regions in Tanzania. Journal of Biosocial
Science, Vol. 26, No. 4, Oct 1994. 451-67 pp. Cambridge, England. In
Eng.
"Data from the 1988 Tanzania census were used to examine child
mortality in three regions populated with Burundi refugees. Logistic
and least squares analyses show that for both Tanzanian nationals and
refugees low levels of maternal education are associated with high
child mortality levels. Children born to mothers who are housewives are
associated with low levels of mortality compared to those born to
employed mothers, though the results were not statistically significant
for the refugees. Maternal demographic status, computed from age and
parity, has a strong effect on child survival. Unexpectedly, child
mortality was lower where the water source was a well outside the
village. Tanzanian mothers who are at highest risk of childbearing are
roughly 6.4 times more likely to have a child death than those at
lowest risk; the corresponding figure for the refugees is
36.8."
Correspondence: M. C. Y. Mbago, University of Dar es
Salaam, Department of Statistics, P.O. Box 35091, Dar es Salaam,
Tanzania. Location: Princeton University Library (SPR).
61:10156 McMurry,
Dan. Structural and behavioral correlates of infant
mortality in Tennessee: changing patterns, new risks. In: Studies
in applied demography, edited by K. Vaninadha Rao and Jerry W. Wicks.
1994. 441-62 pp. Bowling Green State University, Department of
Sociology, Population and Society Research Center: Bowling Green, Ohio.
In Eng.
"This paper consists of an ecological analysis of infant
mortality using counties of Tennessee....Here the focus is to identify
and describe the areas where infant deaths are highest and lowest.
Then, using vital statistic data where each infant death is linked to
its birth certificate, an analysis is done focusing on maternal social
and behavioral characteristics. The recent addition to the birth
certificate of information on smoking, drug and alcohol use, and other
risk factors of the mother, allows researchers for the first time to go
beyond the traditional restrictions of purely medical/biological
correlates of infant mortality."
Correspondence: D.
McMurry, Middle Tennessee State University, Sociology Department,
Murfreesboro, TN 37132. Location: Princeton University
Library (SPR).
61:10157 Miller, C.
Arden. Maternal and infant care: comparisons between
Western Europe and the United States. International Journal of
Health Services, Vol. 23, No. 4, 1993. 655-64 pp. Amityville, New York.
In Eng.
The author reviews a number of studies that compare
differences between selected European countries with low infant
mortality and the United States concerning the provision of maternal
and infant care. Although the results show great differences among the
European countries concerning how such care is provided, they also
reveal that "consistent among the study countries is the nearly
complete enrollment of childbearing women in early and continuous
prenatal care, and the strong linkage of that care to a generous
spectrum of social supports and financial benefits. None of the
benefits generally pertains in the United States." The lessons for the
United States are discussed.
Correspondence: C. A. Miller,
University of North Carolina, School of Public Health, Department of
Maternal and Child Health, Campus Box 7400, Chapel Hill, NC 27599.
Location: U.S. National Library of Medicine, Bethesda, MD.
61:10158 Rao, Saumya
R.; Pandey, Arvind. Child mortality in Goa: a study of
socio-economic and behavioural factors. IIPS Research Report
Series, No. 1, 1993-1994. [vii], 52 pp. International Institute for
Population Sciences: Bombay, India. In Eng.
This is an analysis of
the socioeconomic and behavioral factors affecting child mortality and
survival in the Indian state of Goa. "The analysis explores the
factors associated with child mortality differentials in Goa in two
steps. First, bivariate relationships were explored between child
mortality and each of the eight socio-economic, health and behavioural
related variables selected for the study. Secondly, multivariate
regression was carried out, simultaneously including all the variables
selected for the study." Particular attention is given to the
relationship between breast-feeding and child mortality. The data for
the study were collected in a survey carried out in
1984.
Correspondence: International Institute for
Population Sciences, Govandi Station Road, Deonar, Bombay 400 088,
India. Location: Princeton University Library (SPR).
61:10159 Sastry,
Narayan. Community characteristics, individual attributes,
and child survival in Brazil. DHS Working Paper, No. 14, Aug 1994.
36 pp. Macro International, Demographic and Health Surveys [DHS]:
Calverton, Maryland. In Eng.
"The principal objectives [of this
study] are to investigate how the social and environmental context in
which a child is raised affects the chances of his or her survival, and
to analyze how individual and household characteristics modify the
effects of community characteristics. The ultimate goal of the study
is to understand the role of community characteristics in shaping child
mortality differentials in the context of a developing country." The
data are from a 1986 household survey conducted in Brazil as part of
the Demographic and Health Surveys program.
Correspondence:
Macro International, Demographic and Health Surveys, 11785 Beltsville
Drive, Calverton, MD 20705. Location: Princeton University
Library (SPR).
61:10160 Viazzo,
Pier P.; Bortolotto, Maria; Zanotto, Andrea. Child care,
infant mortality and the impact of legislation: the case of Florence's
foundling hospital, 1840-1940. Continuity and Change, Vol. 9, No.
2, Aug 1994. 243-69 pp. Cambridge, England. In Eng. with sum. in Fre;
Ger.
"This article analyses the evolution of infant mortality at
Florence's foundling hospital from the mid-nineteenth century to the
Second World War in order to shed some light on the vexed question of
the impact of legislative measures on infant mortality [in Italy]. It
shows that, contrary to what had been previously assumed, the major
restrictions imposed on child abandonment in 1875 through the abolition
of the 'wheel' (the revolving box whereby infants were anonymously
introduced into foundling hospitals) had limited effects on the levels
and trends of infant mortality. Later pieces of local and national
legislation proved, however, decisive in starting a rapid and
irreversible process of decline."
Correspondence: P. P.
Viazzo, Istituto degli Innocenti, Florence, Italy. Location:
Princeton University Library (SPR).
61:10161 Wilkinson,
Richard G. Research note: German income distribution and
infant mortality. Sociology of Health and Illness, Vol. 16, No. 2,
Mar 1994. 260-2 pp. Oxford, England. In Eng.
The author comments on
a recent paper by Irene Wennemo concerning the relationship between
income distribution and infant mortality in developed countries from
1950 to 1985. He provides evidence that the German data from the
Luxembourg Income Study used by Wennemo, which provided an exception to
the rule that low rates of poverty were associated with low rates of
infant mortality, are in fact wrong.
For the article by Wennemo,
published in 1993, see 59:40130.
Correspondence: R. G.
Wilkinson, University of Sussex, Trafford Centre for Medical Research,
Brighton BN1 9RY, England. Location: Princeton University
Library (PR).
61:10162 Williams,
Naomi; Mooney, Graham. Infant mortality in an "age of
great cities": London and the English provincial cities compared, c.
1840-1910. Continuity and Change, Vol. 9, No. 2, Aug 1994. 185-212
pp. Cambridge, England. In Eng. with sum. in Fre; Ger.
"This study
uses published vital registration data to construct annual infant
mortality rates for 21 large English towns and 25 districts in London
between 1840 and 1910. Using a comparative geographical approach,
differentials in levels of infant mortality and short-run cyclical
movements are examined. While local factors (urban growth, prevailing
sanitary conditions, methods of feeding and the quality of the milk
supply) all affected levels of infant mortality, the close
correspondence in the timing of movements of infant mortality suggest
that a more general set of factors operated throughout the entire urban
system at the same time. Of these, the interaction of climate and poor
sanitary conditions is given particular
emphasis."
Correspondence: N. Williams, University of
Liverpool, Department of Geography, P.O. Box 147, Liverpool L69 3BX,
England. Location: Princeton University Library (SPR).
61:10163 Winter,
Jay; Lawrence, Jon; Ariouat, Jackie. The impact of the
Great War on infant mortality in London. Annales de Demographie
Historique, 1993. 329-53 pp. Paris, France. In Eng. with sum. in Fre.
"This paper presents evidence for a moderately optimistic account
of the impact of the First World War on infant survival rates in
London. The full effects of the war were not exhausted in November
1918. By examining the period immediately before and after the war, we
show firstly, that the 1914-1918 conflict was a time of slowly
declining infant mortality in London, and secondly, that the rate of
decline accelerated after 1918."
Correspondence: J. Winter,
University of Cambridge, Faculty of History, Cambridge CB2 1TN,
England. Location: Princeton University Library (SPR).
61:10164 Goldman,
Noreen; Takahashi, Shigesato. Old-age mortality in Japan:
demographic and epidemiological perspectives. OPR Working Paper,
No. 94-1, Dec 1993. 39, [2] pp. Princeton University, Office of
Population Research [OPR]: Princeton, New Jersey. In Eng.
This
study is about the spectacular improvement in longevity that has
occurred in Japan, with emphasis on the chronic diseases of the elderly
population. An analysis of the contributions of different age groups
and causes of death to mortality declines since the 1950s is presented
first. The second part examines the effect of dietary factors on
mortality.
Correspondence: Princeton University, Office of
Population Research, 21 Prospect Avenue, Princeton, NJ 08544-2091.
Location: Princeton University Library (SPR).
61:10165 Himes,
Christine L. Age patterns of mortality and cause-of-death
structures in Sweden, Japan, and the United States. Demography,
Vol. 31, No. 4, Nov 1994. 633-50 pp. Washington, D.C. In Eng.
"This
paper uses a new standard model of adult mortality to compare the
mortality patterns of Swedes, Japanese, and U.S. whites between 1950
and 1985. It examines changes in the age patterns of mortality and the
cause-of-death structures within the populations, and the relationships
between those two factors. As Japan has reached a level of mortality
similar to that in Sweden, the age patterns of mortality in the two
populations have become more similar despite distinct differences in
causes of death. The United States has a cause-of-death structure
similar to that of Sweden, but the age pattern of mortality is very
different. High mortality in the middle age range in the United States
results in approximately a one-year loss of life expectancy at age 45
in comparison with Sweden."
Correspondence: C. L. Himes,
Pennsylvania State University, Population Research Institute, 601
Oswald Tower, University Park, PA 16802-6411. Location:
Princeton University Library (SPR).
61:10166 Robert,
Jean-Louis; Winter, Jay. A hitherto ignored aspect of the
urban demography of World War I: the crisis among the elderly in
Berlin, London, and Paris. [Un aspect ignore de la demographie
urbaine de la Grande Guerre: le drame des vieux a Berlin, Londres et
Paris.] Annales de Demographie Historique, 1993. 303-28 pp. Paris,
France. In Fre. with sum. in Eng.
"This article surveys the
mortality of the elderly (60+) population in London, Paris, [and]
Berlin during the Great War. These three capitals all registered
increased mortality rates at advanced ages in 1917-1918. The situation
was particularly grave in Berlin, reflecting the general crisis facing
the city at the end of the war. The increase in death rates in the
Allied capitals reflected the marginalization of the aged during the
war, their neglect in social policy, their relative isolation, material
difficulties and stress at a time of mass
mourning."
Correspondence: J.-L. Robert, Universite
d'Orleans, Chateau de la Source, B 6749, 45067 Orleans Cedex 2, France.
Location: Princeton University Library (SPR).
61:10167 Zodgekar,
Arvind V. The social impact of recent and prospective
mortality decline among older New Zealanders. Asia-Pacific
Population Journal, Vol. 9, No. 2, Jun 1994. 47-60 pp. Bangkok,
Thailand. In Eng.
"Recent declines in mortality among the older New
Zealand population are significant. This article demonstrates the
extent of that decline among the total and the older population, and
discusses its effects on population composition and family
relationships. It also discusses the extent of morbidity and the
impact of ageing on future health care facilities. It concludes that,
as the emphasis of public policy shifts from institutional care to
community care, there is an urgent need to plan for the transfer of
necessary resources to the community in order for it to cope with this
increasing burden. It also finds that there will be increased demands
for geriatric hospital and community care that need to be planned
for."
Correspondence: A. V. Zodgekar, Victoria University
of Wellington, Department of Sociology and Social Work, P.O. Box 600,
Wellington, New Zealand. Location: Princeton University
Library (SPR).
61:10168 Estonian
Interuniversity Population Research Centre (Tallinn, Estonia).
Life tables: counties 1986-1991. [Rahvastiku elutabelid:
maakonnad 1986-1991.] Eesti Rahvastikustatistika: Seeria C/Population
Statistics of Estonia: Series C, No. 4, ISBN 9985-820-09-6. 1994. xv,
60 pp. Tallinn, Estonia. In Eng; Est.
Life tables are presented for
the counties of Estonia for the period 1986-1911. They are presented
separately by sex and for the rural and urban
population.
Correspondence: Estonian Interuniversity
Population Research Centre, P.O. Box 3012, 0090 Tallinn, Estonia.
Location: Princeton University Library (SPR).
61:10169 India.
Office of the Registrar General. Vital Statistics Division (New Delhi,
India). SRS based abridged life tables, 1986-90.
Occasional Paper, No. 1 of 1994, 1994. ii, 90 pp. New Delhi, India. In
Eng.
"This report contains abridged life tables [for India] for the
period 1986-90 separately by rural and urban areas and by sex for major
states and the country." The data are from the Sample Registration
System.
Correspondence: Office of the Registrar General,
Vital Statistics Division, Ministry of Home Affairs, 2/A Mansingh Road,
New Delhi 110 011, India. Location: Princeton University
Library (SPR).
61:10170 United
States. National Center for Health Statistics [NCHS] (Hyattsville,
Maryland). Vital statistics of the United States, 1990.
Volume II, Section 6. Life tables. Pub. Order No. DHHS (PHS)
94-1104. ISBN 0-16-038278-5. Sep 1994. 20 pp. Hyattsville, Maryland. In
Eng.
These are the official life tables for the United States for
the year 1990. The data include abridged life tables by race and sex,
1990; number of survivors at single years of age by race and sex;
expectation of life at single years of age by race and sex; life tables
by race and sex, 1900-1990; and average length of life by race and sex,
1900-1990.
For the 1989 tables, see 59:10156.
Correspondence: U.S. Government Printing Office,
Superintendent of Documents, Mail Stop SSOP, Washington, D.C.
20402-9328. Location: Princeton University Library (SPR).
61:10171 Valkovics,
Emil. Some considerations on the three components of the
Heligman-Pollard formula. [Nehany gondolat a Heligman-Pollard
formula komponenserol.] Demografia, Vol. 37, No. 2, 1994. 203-29 pp.
Budapest, Hungary. In Hun. with sum. in Eng.
"The aim [of] this
modest contribution is partly to suggest a different method of fitting
the Gompertz function for improving the quality of fit of the
Heligman-Pollard formula at higher ages, partly to reformulate
mathematically all of its three terms for making the procedure of
fitting simpler and easier without raising the number of parameters of
the formula and damaging the quality of its fit. The considerations on
the three components of the Heligman-Pollard formula are based only on
our experimentations with the...Hungarian life tables presented
[here]...."
Correspondence: E. Valkovics, Maros-u 27 V.2,
1122 Budapest, Hungary. Location: Princeton University Library
(SPR).
61:10172 Coale,
Ansley J.; Banister, Judith. Five decades of missing
females in China. Demography, Vol. 31, No. 3, Aug 1994. 459-79 pp.
Washington, D.C. In Eng.
"This paper seeks to explain the dearth of
females in the population of China in cohorts born from the late 1930s
to the present. We demonstrate that in virtually all cohorts, the
shortage of females in comparison with males is revealed when the
cohort is first enumerated in a census. Subsequently it barely
changes, and [indicates] that female losses occur very early in life.
Using the high-quality data from the censuses and fertility surveys in
China, we show that many of the births of the girls missing in the
censuses were not reported in the surveys because they died very young.
The incidence of excess early female mortality (probably infanticide)
declined precipitously in the Communist period, but not to zero. The
recent escalation in the proportion of young females missing in China
has been caused largely by rapidly escalating sex-selective
abortion."
Correspondence: A. J. Coale, Princeton
University, Office of Population Research, 21 Prospect Avenue,
Princeton, NJ 08544-2091. Location: Princeton University
Library (SPR).
61:10173 Elo, Irma
T.; Preston, Samuel H. Estimating African-American
mortality from inaccurate data. Demography, Vol. 31, No. 3, Aug
1994. 427-58 pp. Washington, D.C. In Eng.
"This paper evaluates the
quality of vital statistics and census data for estimating
African-American mortality over a period of six decades [in the United
States]. The authors employ intercensal cohort comparisons and extinct
generation estimates to demonstrate that conventionally constructed
African-American death rates may be seriously flawed as early as age
50. Using the crude death rate at ages 50+ for 1978-1982 in conjunction
with estimated growth rates and two model life table systems, the
authors estimate black age-specific death rates in 1978-1982. These
results suggest that if a racial crossover in death rates occurs, the
age pattern of mortality among African-Americans must be far outside
the range observed in populations with more accurate data."
This is
a revised version of a paper originally presented at the 1993 Annual
Meeting of the Population Association of
America.
Correspondence: I. T. Elo, University of
Pennsylvania, Population Studies Center, 3718 Locust Walk,
Philadelphia, PA 19104-6298. Location: Princeton University
Library (SPR).
61:10174 Goldman,
Noreen; Takahashi, Shigesato; Hu, Yuanreng. Mortality
among Japanese singles: a re-investigation. OPR Working Paper,
No. 94-6, Aug 1994. 26 pp. Princeton University, Office of Population
Research [OPR]: Princeton, New Jersey. In Eng.
The authors use data
for the period 1975-1989 now available from death registration and
recent national fertility surveys in Japan to analyze the extent to
which the excess mortality of singles is linked to the system of
arranged marriages. "Results from this analysis, combined with earlier
findings, confirm the importance of the mate selection process in
producing atypically high and rapidly declining mortality rates among
Japanese singles and suggest that the presence of tuberculosis was an
important component of the screening process for potential
spouses."
Correspondence: Princeton University, Office of
Population Research, 21 Prospect Avenue, Princeton, NJ 08544-2091.
Location: Princeton University Library (SPR).
61:10175 Klein,
Thomas. Family status and life expectancy. A cohort
analysis for West Germany. [Familienstand und Lebenserwartung.
Eine Kohortenanalyse fur die Bundesrepublik Deutschland.] Zeitschrift
fur Familienforschung, Vol. 5, No. 2, 1993. 99-114 pp. Konstanz,
Germany. In Ger. with sum. in Eng.
"In this article the effect of
family status on life-expectancy is analysed on the basis of cohort
data. As a result it can be said that even after control for a variety
of other variables marriage obviously protects from mortality. This
effect is stronger for men than for women." The data concern West
Germany in the 1980s.
Correspondence: T. Klein, Universitat
Konstanz, Fakultat fur Verwaltungswissenschaft, Universitatsstrasse 10,
78464 Konstanz, Germany. Location: Princeton University
Library (SPR).
61:10176 Krumholz,
Harlan M.; Seeman, Teresa E.; Merrill, Susan S.; Mendes de Leon, Carlos
F.; Vaccarino, Viola; Silverman, David I.; Tsukahara, Reiko; Ostfeld,
Adrian M.; Berkman, Lisa F. Lack of association between
cholesterol and coronary heart disease mortality and morbidity and
all-cause mortality in persons older than 70 years. JAMA: Journal
of the American Medical Association, Vol. 272, No. 17, Nov 2, 1994.
1,335-40 pp. Chicago, Illinois. In Eng.
The goal of this study is
"to determine whether elevated serum cholesterol level is associated
with all-cause mortality, mortality from coronary heart disease, or
hospitalization for acute myocardial infarction and unstable angina in
persons older than 70 years. Also, to evaluate the association between
low levels of high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL-C) and elevated
ratio of serum cholesterol to HDL-C with these outcomes....A total of
997 subjects...were interviewed in 1988 as part of the New Haven,
[Connecticut,] cohort of the Established Population for the
Epidemiologic Study of the Elderly (EPESE)....[The] findings do not
support the hypothesis that hypercholesterolemia or low HDL-C are
important risk factors for all-cause mortality, coronary heart disease
mortality, or hospitalization for myocardial infarction or unstable
angina in this cohort of persons older than 70
years."
Correspondence: H. M. Krumholz, Yale University
School of Medicine, Section of Cardiovascular Medicine, 333 Cedar
Street, P.O. Box 208017, New Haven, CT 06520-8017. Location:
Princeton University Library (SZ).
61:10177 Kunst,
Anton E.; Mackenbach, Johan P. International variation in
the size of mortality differences associated with occupational
status. International Journal of Epidemiology, Vol. 23, No. 4, Aug
1994. 742-50 pp. Oxford, England. In Eng.
"This study reassesses
the international pattern of inequalities in mortality using an
inequality index devised recently....Data on mortality by social class
were obtained from longitudinal studies from seven [European]
countries. The data referred to men aged 35-64 years. The follow-up
period was approximately 1971-1981. The size of mortality differences
associated with occupational status was measured using a modification
of the Relative Index of Inequality....The results of most previous
international comparisons agree with the general pattern observed
here....The results show that socioeconomic inequalities in mortality
are not an invariable phenomenon, but that they are strongly dependent
on the national context."
Correspondence: A. E. Kunst,
Erasmus University, Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences, Department
of Public Health, P.O. Box 1738, 3000 DR Rotterdam, Netherlands.
Location: Princeton University Library (SPR).
61:10178 Martelin,
Tuija. Differential mortality at older ages:
sociodemographic mortality differences among the Finnish elderly.
Publications of the Finnish Demographic Society, No. 16, ISBN
951-95357-7-2. 1994. 95 pp. Finnish Demographic Society: Helsinki,
Finland. Distributed by Tiedekirja, Kirkkokatu 14, 00170 Helsinki,
Finland. In Eng.
"This report summarizes the main results of a
study on sociodemographic differences in elderly mortality in Finland."
The data are from a data set constructed at Statistics Finland by
linking census files for the years 1970, 1975, 1980, and 1985 with
death records for the consecutive four five-year periods for the entire
Finnish population. The following questions are examined in the study.
"Do we find mortality differences also at older ages with regard to
such basic sociodemographic characteristics as socioeconomic status,
marital status, region of residence or mother tongue? Is there a
tendency for a convergence of mortality levels, or are the differences
growing wider? What can we infer from differentials and their trends
as regards the future development of mortality at older ages or factors
contributing to longevity?"
Correspondence: Finnish
Demographic Society, Helsinki, Finland. Location: Princeton
University Library (SPR).
61:10179 McCarron,
Peter G.; Smith, George D.; Womersley, John J. Deprivation
and mortality in Glasgow: changes from 1980 to 1992. British
Medical Journal, Vol. 309, No. 6967, Dec 3, 1994. 1,481-2 pp. London,
England. In Eng.
Trends in socioeconomic mortality differentials in
Glasgow, Scotland, are described for the period 1980-1992, using data
available from the Greater Glasgow Health Board. The results indicate
that socioeconomic mortality differentials have increased over time,
although overall mortality has improved.
Correspondence: G.
D. Smith, University of Glasgow, Department of Public Health, Glasgow
G12 8RZ, Scotland. Location: Princeton University Library
(SZ).
61:10180 McLoone,
Philip; Boddy, F. A. Deprivation and mortality in
Scotland, 1981 and 1991. British Medical Journal, Vol. 309, No.
6967, Dec 3, 1994. 1,465-70 pp. London, England. In Eng.
Mortality
differentials in Scotland are analyzed by socioeconomic status using
census data for 1981 and 1991. The authors conclude that "differences
in mortality experience linked to relative poverty increased in the 10
years between [the] 1981 and 1991 censuses. Although mortality for
Scotland as a whole is improving, the picture is one of an increasing
distinction between the experience of the majority and that of a
substantial minority of the population."
Correspondence: P.
McLoone, University of Glasgow, Public Health Research Unit, Glasgow
G12 8RZ, Scotland. Location: Princeton University Library
(SZ).
61:10181 Preston,
Samuel H.; Taubman, Paul. Socioeconomic differences in
adult mortality and health status. In: Demography of aging, edited
by Linda G. Martin and Samuel H. Preston. 1994. 279-318 pp. National
Academy Press: Washington, D.C. In Eng.
"This chapter reviews
recent evidence about the extent and sources of socioeconomic
differences in mortality and health among older persons in the United
States, with some reference to other countries." Sections are included
on socioeconomic measures; recent evidence on the extent of
socioeconomic differences in mortality and health status; sources of
socioeconomic differentials in mortality and health status; sources of
change in differences; and race, class, and
health.
Correspondence: S. H. Preston, University of
Pennsylvania, Population Studies Center, 3718 Locust Walk,
Philadelphia, PA 19104-6297. Location: Princeton University
Library (SPR).
61:10182 Rafnsson,
Vilhjalmur; Gunnarsdottir, Holmfridur. Mortality among
Icelandic seamen. International Journal of Epidemiology, Vol. 23,
No. 4, Aug 1994. 730-6 pp. Oxford, England. In Eng.
"The aim of
this cohort study was to evaluate the mortality of Icelandic seamen
with particular reference to cancer deaths....In all 27,884
seamen...were followed-up [from 1958 to 1986]....We conclude that the
excess mortality from unknown causes indicates a special situation
among seamen, and might be due to hazardous working conditions or
behavioural or lifestyle factors. The excess found for stomach and
lung cancer is high and increased with increasing latency, however
these cancer mortalities were not distinctly related to the duration of
employment, which makes it uncertain whether these cancers are related
to occupation. Some other smoking and lifestyle-related cancers were
also in excess, e.g. liver and kidney
cancers."
Correspondence: V. Rafnsson, Administration of
Occupational Safety and Health, Department of Occupational Medicine,
Bildshoefdi 16, 112 Reykjavik, Iceland. Location: Princeton
University Library (SPR).
61:10183 Rofman,
Rafael. Adult mortality differentials in Argentina.
[Diferenciales de mortalidad adulta en Argentina.] Notas de Poblacion,
Vol. 22, No. 59, Jun 1994. 73-91 pp. Santiago, Chile. In Spa. with sum.
in Eng.
"This article intends to estimate and analyze adult
mortality differentials in Argentina, by utilizing data from the
National Administration of Social Security. The method used is a
combination of the technique known as logistic analysis and the use of
models developed by Coale et al. and Coale and Guo. Based on these
estimates, life tables by sex, place of residence, pension fund
(utilized as an activity indicator) and income were
constructed....Among the most important findings it was observed that
the lowest mortality levels were presented by persons autonomously
affiliated to pension funds....A strong inverse correlation was found
between the probability of dying and the income
level."
Correspondence: R. Rofman, Centro de Estudios de
Poblacion, Casilla 4397, Correo Central, 1000 Buenos Aires, Argentina.
Location: Princeton University Library (SPR).
61:10184 Sloggett,
Andrew; Joshi, Heather. Higher mortality in deprived
areas: community or personal disadvantage? British Medical
Journal, Vol. 309, No. 6967, Dec 3, 1994. 1,470-4 pp. London, England.
In Eng.
The association between level of social deprivation and
premature mortality in England is explored using 1981 census data for
some 300,000 individuals aged 16-65. The sample was followed up for
nearly nine years. "Without allowance for personal disadvantage, both
sexes showed a clear, significant, and roughly linear positive relation
between degree of deprivation of the ward of residence in 1981 and
premature death before 1990....The excess mortality associated with
residence in areas designated as deprived by census based indicators is
wholly explained by the concentration in those areas of people with
adverse personal or household socioeconomic
factors."
Correspondence: A. Sloggett, London School of
Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, Department of Epidemiology and
Population Sciences, Keppel Street, London WC1E 7HT, England.
Location: Princeton University Library (SZ).
61:10185 Smith,
Herbert L. Nonreporting of births or nonreporting of
pregnancies? Some evidence from four rural counties in north
China. Demography, Vol. 31, No. 3, Aug 1994. 481-6 pp. Washington,
D.C. In Eng.
The author critically examines an article by Ansley J.
Coale and Judith Banister concerning sex ratios in China. "I present
data from a recent sample survey featuring a retrospective pregnancy
history. These data reveal that at least in the first pregnancy, from
which the preponderance of sample births [arises], there is no evidence
of elevated female infant mortality or of high numbers of stillbirths,
but that reported sex ratios are unusually high. The proportion of
stillbirths grows for later pregnancies, but not enough to account for
high sex ratios. Retrospective fertility data regarding recall over a
recent interval are vexed less by a misunderstanding of what a live
birth is than by a 'misunderstanding' of what a (reportable) pregnancy
is."
For the article by Coale and Banister, published in 1994, see
elsewhere in this issue.
Correspondence: H. L. Smith,
University of Pennsylvania, Population Studies Center, 3718 Locust
Walk, Philadelphia, PA 19104-6298. Location: Princeton
University Library (SPR).
61:10186 van der
Veen, Willem J. Regional mortality differentials in
Belgium, Germany and the Netherlands. Groningen Demographic
Reports, No. 18, 1994. 174 pp. University of Groningen, Faculty of
Spatial Sciences, Population Research Centre: Groningen, Netherlands.
In Eng.
"This study examines regional mortality trends and
differentials in the 1980s in Belgium, the former Federal Republic of
Germany and The Netherlands. Mortality statistics by age, sex, year
and underlying cause of death are analysed at the level of the Belgian
and Dutch provinces and the Regierungsbezirke in the German states of
Niedersachsen, Nordrhein-Westfalen and Rheinland-Pfalz. Techniques are
used to decompose differentials and changes in regional life expectancy
at birth into age-specific and cause-specific
contributions."
Correspondence: University of Groningen,
Faculty of Spatial Sciences, Population Research Centre, P.O. Box 800,
9700 AV Groningen, Netherlands. Location: Princeton University
Library (SPR).
61:10187 Westerling,
Ragnar. Indicators of "avoidable" mortality in health
administrative areas in Sweden 1974-1985. Scandinavian Journal of
Social Medicine, Vol. 21, No. 3, 1993. 176-87 pp. Oslo, Norway. In Eng.
This is an analysis of variations in avoidable mortality by health
administrative areas in Sweden for the period 1974-1985. "For most
indicators the variation was significant. The level of systematic
(nonrandom) variance differed between the sexes for certain
conditions." The implications for health policy are
considered.
Correspondence: R. Westerling, Uppsala
University, Department of Social Medicine, 75185 Uppsala, Sweden.
Location: U.S. National Library of Medicine, Bethesda, MD.
61:10188 Williams,
Rory. Medical, economic and population factors in areas of
high mortality: the case of Glasgow. Sociology of Health and
Illness, Vol. 16, No. 2, Mar 1994. 143-81 pp. Oxford, England. In Eng.
Factors affecting mortality in Glasgow, Scotland, are analyzed from
the nineteenth century to the present. The author notes that mortality
in the city, which was converging with mortality in England up to the
1820s, surged from 1831 to 1871, and has remained high since then. The
author suggests that this phenomenon is strongly associated with
poverty, overcrowding, and probably inadequate diet. It is also
closely associated with migration from the Highlands of Scotland and
from Ireland.
Correspondence: R. Williams, MRC Medical
Sociology Unit, 6 Lilybank Gardens, Glasgow G12 8QQ, Scotland.
Location: Princeton University Library (PR).
61:10189 Bindels,
Patrick J. E.; Reijneveld, Sijmen A.; Mulder-Folkerts, Dieke K. F.;
Coutinho, Roel A.; van den Hoek, Anneke A. R. Impact of
AIDS on premature mortality in Amsterdam, 1982-1992. AIDS, Vol. 8,
No. 2, 1994. 233-7 pp. Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. In Eng.
The
authors "combined aggregated data from the Netherlands Central Bureau
of Statistics with data from the municipal death and population
registry and data from the Amsterdam AIDS surveillance system to
calculate age standardized mortality rates for men aged 15-64 years and
25-54 years and working years of potential life lost before 65
years...." The results indicate that "AIDS was the leading cause of
death for men aged 25-54 years in Amsterdam from 1990 onwards, and the
third leading cause of death for men aged 15-64 years in 1991. In this
larger age group AIDS will probably become the leading cause of death
in the coming years."
Correspondence: P. J. E. Bindels,
Department of Public Health and Environment, Municipal Health Service,
Nieuwe Achtergracht 100, 1018 WT Amsterdam, Netherlands.
Location: Princeton University Library (SPR).
61:10190 Choiniere,
Robert. Principal causes of death and hospitalization in
the region of Montreal. [Les principales causes de deces et
d'hospitalisation dans la region de Montreal.] Cahiers Quebecois de
Demographie, Vol. 22, No. 1, Spring 1993. 179-92 pp. Montreal, Canada.
In Fre. with sum. in Eng; Spa.
"The aim of this article is to draw
a portrait of the principal causes of death and hospitalization on the
Island of Montreal. Age and sex specific rates are compared to those
for all of Quebec. Furthermore, the evolution of mortality rates by
cause of death is traced from 1976 to 1990. AIDS, which was unheard of
before 1983, now represents the number one ranking cause of death among
men aged 25 to 44 years. For most of the causes considered here, a
decline in mortality has been observed between 1976 and 1990. However,
mortality rates for pulmonary diseases have increased significantly for
both sexes, as have rates for lung cancer among
women."
Correspondence: R. Choiniere, Hopital General de
Montreal, Unite de Sante Publique, Montreal, Quebec, Canada.
Location: Princeton University Library (SPR).
61:10191 Criqui, M.
H.; Ringel, Brenda L. Does diet or alcohol explain the
French paradox? Lancet, Vol. 344, No. 8939-8940, Dec 24-31, 1994.
1,719-23 pp. New York, New York/London, England. In Eng.
The causes
of the strikingly low rate of mortality from coronary heart disease
(CHD) in France compared with other developed countries is explored
using data from 21 developed countries for selected years from 1965 to
1988, with the focus on differences in alcohol consumption and diet.
"We conclude that ethanol, particularly wine ethanol, is inversely
related to CHD but not to longevity in populations. Although light to
moderate alcohol consumption may improve longevity, alcohol
abuse--which sharply reduces longevity--is correlated with average
alcohol consumption in populations. Thus, while the risk/benefit ratio
varies for individuals, the use of alcohol for cardioprotective
purposes should not be encouraged as a public health
measure."
Correspondence: M. H. Criqui, University of
California, San Diego School of Medicine, Department of Family and
Preventive Medicine, La Jolla, CA 92093-0607. Location:
Princeton University Library (SZ).
61:10192 De Groof,
D.; Seyni Bagnou, A.; Sekou, H. Estimating maternal
mortality in a rural area of Niger: application of the indirect
sisterhood method. [Estimation de la mortalite maternelle en zone
rurale au Niger: utilisation de la methode indirecte des soeurs.]
Annales de la Societe Belge de Medecine Tropicale/Annales van de
Belgische Vereniging voor Tropische Geneeskunde, Vol. 73, No. 4, 1993.
279-85 pp. Brussels, Belgium. In Fre. with sum. in Eng; Dut.
The
authors present results from use of the sisterhood method for the
indirect estimation of maternal mortality in Niger. Data for over
3,000 women above the age of 15 were collected in 1992 in a rural area.
The results indicate a maternal mortality rate of 1,050 per 100,000
live births, and that this method presents a simple and effective way
of collecting such data in difficult
conditions.
Correspondence: D. De Groof, Cooperation
Medicale Nigero-Belge, Projet AMISAP, B.P. 457, Niamey, Niger.
Location: U.S. National Library of Medicine, Bethesda, MD.
61:10193 Gregson,
Simon; Garnett, Geoff P.; Anderson, Roy M. Is HIV-1 likely
to become a leading cause of adult mortality in Sub-Saharan
Africa? Journal of Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndromes, Vol. 7,
No. 8, 1994. 839-52 pp. New York, New York. In Eng.
Possible future
trends of the HIV-1 epidemic in Sub-Saharan Africa are explored, with
emphasis on the likely consequences for mortality. "Two contrasting
scenarios are studied, one which turns population growth rates negative
and another which does not. In both cases, HIV-1-related disease
accounts for over 75% of annual deaths among men and women aged 15-60
years by year 25 of the epidemic. Relatively little change in
mortality is seen in the early years of the simulated epidemics.
However, by year 15, expectation of life at age 15 has fallen from 50
to below 30 years. The fragmentary evidence now available from
empirical studies supports the impression that HIV-1 is rapidly
emerging as a leading cause of adult deaths in areas of sub-Saharan
Africa."
Correspondence: S. Gregson, University of Oxford,
Department of Zoology, Infectious Disease Epidemiology Unit, South
Parks Road, Oxford OX1 3PS, England. Location: Princeton
University Library (SPR).
61:10194 Koskinen,
Seppo. Origins of regional differences in mortality from
ischaemic heart disease in Finland. NAWH Research Report, No. 41,
ISBN 951-47-9600-4. 1994. vii, 204 pp. National Research and
Development Centre for Welfare and Health [NAWH]: Helsinki, Finland. In
Eng.
"This book evaluates the role of various suspected causal
factors in the origin of the Finnish geographic mortality differences
in heart disease. The book includes a thorough review of earlier
literature and a detailed analysis of a large mortality data set,
covering all deaths among the middle-aged in Finland during the
fifteen-year period 1971-1985. The study shows that the demographic and
socioeconomic composition of the regional populations does not explain
the high eastern mortality. Regional mortality differences appear to
be determined mainly by region of birth, rather than region of
residence. The results suggest that the high heart disease mortality
of women and men born in the east, compared to those born in the west,
may mainly ensue either from genetic characteristics or from childhood
circumstances."
Correspondence: National Research and
Development Centre for Welfare and Health, P.O. Box 220, 00531
Helsinki, Finland. Location: Princeton University Library
(SPR).
61:10195 Kvale,
Gunnar; Heuch, Ivar; Nilssen, Steinar. Parity in relation
to mortality and cancer incidence: a prospective study of Norwegian
women. International Journal of Epidemiology, Vol. 23, No. 4, Aug
1994. 691-9 pp. Oxford, England. In Eng.
The authors examine the
relationship between childbearing and trends in total and
cause-specific mortality and cancer incidence, using data from a
20-year follow-up study of 63,090 Norwegian women. "The study supports
evidence of an increased risk of ischaemic heart disease in multiparous
women, which had been observed previously in three smaller prospective
studies. It confirms earlier observations of low risks of cancer of
the breast, corpus uteri and ovaries in women with high
parity."
Correspondence: G. Kvale, University of Bergen,
Department of Epidemiology, 5020 Bergen, Norway. Location:
Princeton University Library (SPR).
61:10196 La Vecchia,
Carlo; Levi, Fabio; Lucchini, Franca; Negri, Eva.
Worldwide pattern of mortality from motor vehicle accidents,
1950-1990. Sozial- und Praventivmedizin/Medecine Sociale et
Preventive/Social and Preventive Medicine, Vol. 39, No. 3, 1994. 150-78
pp. Basel, Switzerland. In Eng.
"Trends in age-specific and
age-standardized death certification rates from motor vehicle accidents
over the period 1950-1990 were analyzed for 48 countries from four
continents...on the basis of data produced by the World Health
Organization mortality database. In most developed western and Asiatic
countries, mortality rates increased until the late 1960s or early
1970s, and declined thereafter to reach values often lower than those
of the early 1950s, although the number of circulating vehicles has
substantially increased over the same calendar period....There were a
few countries, including Kuwait, Venezuela and several other Latin
American countries, Australia and New Zealand, and several southern and
eastern European countries, with exceedingly high rates from motor
vehicle accidents, and where comprehensive interventions on this
important cause of death are therefore a public health
priority."
Correspondence: F. Levi, Institut Universitaire
de Medecine Social et Preventive, CHUV-Falaises 1, 1011 Lausanne,
Switzerland. Location: Princeton University Library (SPR).
61:10197 Lang, David
M.; Polansky, Marcia. Patterns of asthma mortality in
Philadelphia from 1969 to 1991. New England Journal of Medicine,
Vol. 331, No. 23, Dec 8, 1994. 1,542-6 pp. Boston, Massachusetts. In
Eng.
Patterns in rates of death from asthma in Philadelphia,
Pennsylvania, are analyzed for the period 1969-1991 to determine the
impact of changes in concentrations of major air pollutants on asthma
mortality. The authors conclude that "the rates of death from asthma
have increased in Philadelphia, whereas concentrations of major air
pollutants have declined. The rates are highest in census tracts with
the highest percentages of poor people and minority residents,
particularly blacks."
Correspondence: D. M. Lang, Hahnemann
University, Division of Allergy and Immunology, Mail Stop 107, Broad
and Vine Streets, Philadelphia, PA 19102-1192. Location:
Princeton University Library (SZ).
61:10198 Mbizvo,
Michael T.; Fawcus, Susan; Lindmark, Gunilla; Nystrom,
Lennarth. Operational factors of maternal mortality in
Zimbabwe. Health Policy and Planning, Vol. 8, No. 4, Dec 1993.
369-78 pp. Oxford, England. In Eng.
This study concentrates on the
impact of prevailing health care systems and community factors on the
incidence of maternal mortality in Zimbabwe. "Whereas rural-urban
variations in maternal mortality were observed, inter-rural district
variations were also apparent, especially with poor medical resources,
poor communication and delayed interventions. Risk factors for
maternal mortality were present at each of the various levels of
care....Health education, community sensitization and teaching on risk
signal awareness as well as health care delivery system strengthening
are recommended for reducing the high maternal mortality
rates."
Correspondence: M. T. Mbizvo, University of
Zimbabwe Medical School, Department of Obstetrics and Gynaecology, P.O.
Box A178, Avondale, Harare, Zimbabwe. Location: U.S. National
Library of Medicine, Bethesda, MD.
61:10199 McCaa,
Robert. Spanish and Nahuatl views on smallpox and
demographic catastrophe in Mexico. Journal of Interdisciplinary
History, Vol. 25, No. 3, Winter 1995. 397-431 pp. Cambridge,
Massachusetts. In Eng.
The author reexamines contemporary Spanish
and Native American sources for evidence concerning the demographic
impact of smallpox, the first Old World epidemic, which was introduced
into Mexico in 1520. He concludes that the impact of the disease was
indeed significant, and in a critique of a recent study by Francis J.
Brooks, concludes that almost one half of the native population may
have died in the epidemic.
For the study by Brooks, published in
1993, see 59:30085.
Correspondence: R. McCaa, University
of Minnesota, Department of History, 267 19th Avenue South,
Minneapolis, MN 55455. Location: Princeton University Library
(SPR).
61:10200 Menotti,
A.; Keys, A.; Kromhout, D.; Blackburn, H.; Aravanis, C.; Bloemberg, B.;
Buzina, R.; Dontas, A.; Fidanza, F.; Giampaoli, S.
Inter-cohort differences in coronary heart disease mortality in the
25-year follow-up of the Seven Countries Study. European Journal
of Epidemiology, Vol. 9, No. 5, Sep 1993. 527-36 pp. Stuttgart,
Germany. In Eng.
This study, which has nine additional authors,
presents results from a long-term study on coronary heart disease
mortality for 12,763 males aged 40-59 from seven developed countries.
"Large differences in age-adjusted coronary heart disease (CHD) death
rates were found, with extremes of 45 per 1,000 in 25 years in
Tanushimaru, Japan, to 288 per 1,000 in 25 years in East Finland. In
general, higher rates were found in the U.S. and Northern European
cohorts as compared to the Southern European and Japanese cohorts.
However, during the last 10 years of follow-up large increases of CHD
death rates were found in some Yugoslavian areas. Out of 5 measured
entry characteristics treated as age-adjusted levels (serum
cholesterol, systolic blood pressure, cigarette smoking, body mass
index and physical activity at work), only serum cholesterol was
significant in explaining cohort differences in CHD death rates....It
can be concluded that this study suggests that mean serum cholesterol
is the major risk factor in explaining cross-cultural differences in
CHD."
Correspondence: A. Menotti, Laboratorio di
Epidemiologia e Biostatistica, Istituto Superiore di Sanita, Viale
Regina Elena 299, 00161 Rome, Italy. Location: U.S. National
Library of Medicine, Bethesda, MD.
61:10201 Nam,
Charles B.; Hummer, Robert A.; Rogers, Richard G.
Underlying and multiple causes of death related to smoking.
Population Research and Policy Review, Vol. 13, No. 3, Sep 1994. 305-25
pp. Hingham, Massachusetts/Dordrecht, Netherlands. In Eng.
"Although smoking has been linked to various causes of death, there
is no systematic account of the underlying and multiple cause-of-death
distributions associated with various smoking statuses. We analyze
such patterns by age and gender for the U.S.A. in 1986. Our study is
based on a one-percent random sample of decedents 25 and over in the
U.S.A. for whom survey data from informants were linked to death
certificate data. Smoking is related to several underlying causes of
death, the most common being circulatory diseases....Amount of smoking
is tied to variations in cause-of-death patterns. Differences by age
and gender are not substantial, although...cancers appear frequently
for both smokers and non-smokers among
women."
Correspondence: C. B. Nam, Florida State
University, Center for the Study of Population, 659-C Bellamy Building,
Tallahassee, FL 32306-4063. Location: Princeton University
Library (SPR).
61:10202 Raviglione,
Mario C.; Snider, Dixie E.; Kochi, Arata. Global
epidemiology of tuberculosis: morbidity and mortality of a worldwide
epidemic. JAMA: Journal of the American Medical Association, Vol.
273, No. 3, Jan 18, 1995. 220-6 pp. Chicago, Illinois. In Eng.
"This article describes the epidemiology of tuberculosis in the
world....Data on prevalence of infection, case notifications, and
mortality were obtained from reports produced by ministries of health,
World Health Organization (WHO) questionnaires in 1992 and 1993,
reports of national tuberculosis and respiratory disease associations,
and the published literature." The authors note that cases of reported
tuberculosis increased in most regions of the world, excluding the
Americas and Europe, over the period 1984-1991, and that "in 1990,
there were an estimated 7.5 million cases of tuberculosis and 2.5
million deaths worldwide." The likelihood is that tuberculosis will
continue to grow, partly because of HIV infections and increased drug
resistance, and that "if worldwide control of tuberculosis does not
improve, 90 million new cases and 30 million deaths are expected in the
decade 1990 through 1999."
Correspondence: M. C.
Raviglione, World Health Organization, Tuberculosis Programme, 1211
Geneva 27, Switzerland. Location: Princeton University Library
(SZ).
61:10203 Reissigova,
J.; Luostarinen, T.; Hakulinen, T.; Kubik, A. Statistical
modelling and prediction of lung cancer mortality in the Czech and
Slovak Republics, 1960-1999. International Journal of
Epidemiology, Vol. 23, No. 4, Aug 1994. 665-72 pp. Oxford, England. In
Eng.
"The current study examines the mortality pattern of lung
cancer and establishes to what extent different factors (republic, age,
year of birth and period) contributed to the trends and differentials
in lung cancer mortality. Furthermore, the study predicts lung cancer
mortality for 1990-1999....Mortality from lung cancer increased
substantially among the Czech and Slovak populations from 1960 to 1989.
The initial level was much lower in Slovakia than in the Czech
Republic. The upward trend was more marked in the Slovak Republic so
that Slovak male mortality was close to that of Czechs in the late
1980s."
Correspondence: J. Reissigova, Institute of Chest
Diseases, Budinova 67, 18071 Prague 8, Bulovka, Czech Republic.
Location: Princeton University Library (SPR).
61:10204 Schrijvers,
Carola T. M.; Mackenbach, Johan P. Cancer patient survival
by socioeconomic status in the Netherlands: a review for six common
cancer sites. Journal of Epidemiology and Community Health, Vol.
48, No. 5, Oct 1994. 441-6 pp. London, England. In Eng.
This is a
review of the literature on socioeconomic differences in cancer patient
survival, primarily concerning studies undertaken in developed
countries. The authors conclude that "socioeconomic differences in
cancer survival are generally small and...socioeconomic differences in
cancer mortality [are] probably small too."
Correspondence:
C. T. M. Schrijvers, Erasmus University Medical School, Department of
Public Health, P.O. Box 1738, 3000 DR Rotterdam, Netherlands.
Location: Princeton University Library (SPR).
61:10205
Shahidullah, M. The sisterhood method of
estimating maternal mortality: a study from Matlab, Bangladesh.
Working Papers in Demography, No. 49, 1994. 25 pp. Australian National
University, Research School of Social Sciences: Canberra, Australia. In
Eng.
"This study reports the results of a test of validation of the
sisterhood method using data from Matlab, Bangladesh....Results suggest
that in places similar to Matlab the sisterhood method will produce
negative bias in estimates of maternal mortality and that the problem
giving rise to most of this negative bias will be not with the method
but with the sociocultural background of respondents, which encourages
them to hide information on pregnancy-related deaths to never-married
women."
Correspondence: Australian National University,
Research School of Social Sciences, Canberra, ACT 0200, Australia.
Location: Princeton University Library (SPR).
61:10206 Soman,
Krishna. Trends in maternal mortality. Economic and
Political Weekly, Vol. 29, No. 44, Oct 29, 1994. 2,859-60 pp. Bombay,
India. In Eng.
The author reviews recent trends in maternal
mortality in India. It is concluded that "the failure of the maternal
and health care programme is clearly evident in the largely unchanged
pattern of maternal deaths in rural India over the years where
avoidable causes continue to account for a large proportion of such
deaths."
Location: Princeton University Library (PF).
61:10207 Terling,
Toni; Frisbie, W. Parker; Sowards, Kathryn A.; Bradshaw, Benjamin
S. Ethnic differentials in mortality from breast
cancer. Texas Population Research Center Paper, No. 94-95-02,
1994-1995. 13, [3] pp. University of Texas, Texas Population Research
Center: Austin, Texas. In Eng.
"This paper documents the
differences in breast cancer mortality between Mexican origin and Anglo
women [in Bexar County, Texas] over time. Of considerable interest is
the finding that mortality from breast cancer is lower among Mexican
origin women....Following documentation of the variation along ethnic
and temporal dimensions, we speculate on some of the reasons for the
differences observed and the implications for the future relative life
expectancy of Mexican Americans and
Anglos."
Correspondence: University of Texas, Texas
Population Research Center, 1800 Main Building, Austin, TX 78712.
Location: Princeton University Library (SPR).
61:10208 Touloumi,
G.; Pocock, S. J.; Katsouyanni, K.; Trichopoulos, D.
Short-term effects of air pollution on daily mortality in Athens:
a time-series analysis. International Journal of Epidemiology,
Vol. 23, No. 5, Oct 1994. 957-67 pp. Oxford, England. In Eng.
"The
association of air pollution with daily all-cause mortality in Athens
[Greece] for the years 1984-1988 was investigated using daily values of
[sulphur dioxide] smoke and [carbon monoxide]. Autoregressive models
with log-transformed daily mortality as the dependent variable, were
used to adjust for temperature and relative humidity...,year, season
and day of week, as well as for serial correlations in mortality." The
results suggest that current air pollution levels in Athens may be
responsible for a substantial number of premature
deaths.
Correspondence: G. Touloumi, University of Athens
Medical School, Department of Hygiene and Epidemiology, 75 Mikras Asias
Street, 11527 Athens, Greece. Location: Princeton University
Library (SPR).
61:10209 United
States. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention [CDC] (Atlanta,
Georgia). Homicides among 15-19-year-old males--United
States, 1963-1991. Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report, Vol. 43,
No. 40, Oct 14, 1994. 725-7 pp. Atlanta, Georgia. In Eng.
"In 1991,
nearly half...of the 26,513 homicide victims in the United States were
males aged 15-34 years. In addition, among males in this age group,
homicide accounted for 18% of all deaths and was the second leading
cause of death....From 1985 to 1991, the annual crude homicide rate for
the United States increased 25% (from 8.4 to 10.5 per 100,000 persons).
The homicide rate for persons aged 15-34 years increased 50% during
this period (from 13.4 to 20.1 per 100,000), accounting for most of the
overall increase."
Correspondence: Centers for Disease
Control and Prevention, Mailstop C-08, Atlanta, GA 30333.
Location: Princeton University Library (SPR).
61:10210 Walraven,
G. E. L.; Mkanje, R. J. B.; van Roosmalen, J.; van Dongen, P. W. J.;
Dolmans, W. M. V. Assessment of maternal mortality in
Tanzania. British Journal of Obstetrics and Gynaecology, Vol. 101,
No. 5, May 1994. 414-7 pp. Oxford, England. In Eng.
An analysis of
maternal mortality in northwestern Tanzania is presented using data
obtained through three alternative methods. "Maternal mortality ratios
derived from the prospective community-based survey, the sisterhood
method survey and hospital data analysis were 241, 297, and 845 per
100,000 live births, respectively. [The authors conclude that] hospital
data tend to overestimate maternal mortality in these communities. The
sisterhood method is easier and more convenient than a prospective
community-based study."
Correspondence: G. E. L. Walraven,
Nijmegen University, P.O. Box 9101, 6500 HB Nijmegen, Netherlands.
Location: U.S. National Library of Medicine, Bethesda, MD.
61:10211 Wirawan,
Dewa N.; Linnan, Michael. The Bali Indirect Maternal
Mortality Study. Studies in Family Planning, Vol. 25, No. 5,
Sep-Oct 1994. 304-9 pp. New York, New York. In Eng.
"The Bali
Indirect Maternal Mortality Study (BIMMS) was conducted in Bali
Province, Indonesia in 1991. The objective of the study was to
evaluate the indirect sisterhood method for estimating maternal
mortality, using a prospective (direct) community-based survey
undertaken from 1980 to 1982 among women of reproductive age
(Reproductive Age Mortality Survey, or RAMOS) as a comparison. The
BIMMS maternal mortality ratio was 331 per 100,000 live births adjusted
for 1982. This ratio is similar to the RAMOS one prior to its
adjustment, of 359 per 100,000 live births. The sisterhood method was
faster, cheaper, and appears to be as accurate as direct
methods."
Correspondence: D. N. Wirawan, Udayana
University, Department of Public Health, Jalan P. B. Sudirman,
Denpasar, Bali, Indonesia. Location: Princeton University
Library (SPR).
