Studies that treat quantitative mortality data analytically. Methodological studies primarily concerned with mortality are cited in this division and cross-referenced to N. Methods of Research and Analysis Including Models, if necessary. The main references to crude data are in the vital statistics items in S. Official Statistical Publications.
Studies of overall mortality and comparisons of several types of mortality. Studies dealing with two or more of the topics listed in this division are classified under the major section covered, or, if this is not self-evident, included here under General Mortality.
63:20068 Arriaga, Eduardo E. The
use of years of life lost for measuring the level and change of
mortality. [Los años de vida perdidos: su
utilización para medir el nivel y cambio de la mortalidad.]
Notas de Población, Vol. 24, No. 63, Jun 1996. 7-38 pp.
Santiago, Chile. In Spa. with sum. in Eng.
"The use of the new
index of years of life lost allows us to relate mortality by age and
causes of death to the change of the life expectancy, at birth or
between any given ages. This index replaces the use of the multiple
decrement life tables for analyzing the impact of the change in
mortality by age and cause of death on the life expectancies....The
article presents the theoretical derivation of the index, some examples
of its use, and a detailed calculation." Examples provided include
Mexico, Chile, and Argentina.
Correspondence: E. E.
Arriaga, U.S. Bureau of the Census, Washington, D.C. 20233.
Location: Princeton University Library (SPR).
63:20069 Avdeev, Alexandre; Blum, Alain;
Zakharov, Serge; Andreev, Evgenij. The reaction of a
heterogeneous population to perturbation. An interpretative model of
mortality trends in Russia. [Réaction d'une population
hétérogène à une perturbation. Un
modèle d'interprétation des évolutions de
mortalité en Russie.] Population, Vol. 52, No. 1, Jan-Feb 1997.
7-44 pp. Paris, France. In Fre. with sum. in Eng; Spa.
"The
rapid increase in mortality in Russia during the past ten years is
perplexing....In this paper, the authors offer a new interpretation of
these dynamics which complements those put forward by previous
authors....They suggest that recent developments are the cumulative
result of a compensation mechanism which followed the rapid decrease in
mortality which occurred around 1985, and of the continuation of a
deterioration movement which began in the early 1960s. It does not
represent a new trend to a rapidly deteriorating situation. To prove
this and to explain these rapid fluctuations, the authors have
developed a model based on hypotheses which involve heterogeneous
populations."
Correspondence: A. Blum, Institut
National d'Etudes Démographiques, 27 rue du Commandeur, 75675
Paris Cedex 14, France. E-mail: blum@ined.fr. Location:
Princeton University Library (SPR).
63:20070 Bocco, Mónica.
The relationship between years of life lost and life expectancy:
applications to the analysis of mortality. [La relación
entre los años de vida perdidos y la esperanza de vida:
aplicaciones para el análisis de la mortalidad.] Notas de
Población, Vol. 24, No. 63, Jun 1996. 39-60 pp. Santiago, Chile.
In Spa. with sum. in Eng.
"This paper presents a new,
continuous, version of the index of years of life lost (YLL) in the
population, distinguishing different causes of death. Also, it shows
the mathematical relationship between the YLL and temporary life
expectancies in the discrete and continuous cases....The model is
applied to the analysis of mortality of the province of Córdoba,
Argentina, during 1947-1991."
Correspondence: M.
Bocco, Universidad Nacional de Córdoba, Calle Obispo Trejo 242,
5000 Córdoba, Argentina. Location: Princeton University
Library (SPR).
63:20071 Carey, James R. What
demographers can learn from fruit fly actuarial models and
biology. Demography, Vol. 34, No. 1, Feb 1997. 17-30 pp. Silver
Spring, Maryland. In Eng.
"Historically demographers have
viewed the results of actuarial studies of nonhuman species,
particularly those on invertebrates such as fruit flies, as largely
irrelevant to investigations on human populations. In this paper I
present life table data from large scale studies on the Mediterranean
fruit fly, and show that they provide important insights into
fundamental aspects of mortality relevant to human populations: the
trajectory of mortality at older ages, sex mortality differentials, the
concept of maximal life span, and demographic heterogeneity and
selection. An overriding theme of the paper is the need for
demographers to acquire a heightened awareness of new developments in
biology including areas such as evolutionary ecology, experimental
demography and molecular medicine."
Correspondence: J.
R. Carey, University of California, Department of Entomology, Davis, CA
95616. E-mail: jrcarey@ucdavis.edu. Location: Princeton
University Library (SPR).
63:20072 Caselli, Graziella.
Mortality forecasts. In: Demografia: analisi e sintesi. Cause
e conseguenze dei processi demografici, edited by Graziella Caselli.
Apr 1996. 85-102 pp. Università degli Studi di Roma La Sapienza,
Dipartimento di Scienze Demografiche: Rome, Italy. In Eng.
Two
approaches to making mortality forecasts are examined: the
extrapolation method, based on past mortality trends, and the target
method, whereby a threshold is fixed which the mortality indicator
should reach at the end of the forecast period. "This chapter will
look at these two approaches, indicating the hypotheses and methods
most widely used in demography. The results will be given of a number
of applications for ex post comparisons with data observed to assess
each method's potential in interpreting the reality in question. Focus
will then be given to the impact of the length of the data series on
the forecasts' outcome, also taking into consideration for certain
countries in Europe the estimates provided by some international and
national bodies." The author stresses the importance of analyzing
potential changes in individual causes of death.
Correspondence:
G. Caselli, Università degli Studi di Roma La Sapienza,
Dipartimento di Scienze Demografiche, Via Nomentana 41, 00161 Rome,
Italy. Location: Princeton University Library (SPR).
63:20073 Lee, Ronald; Tuljapurkar,
Shripad. Death and taxes: longer life, consumption, and
social security. Demography, Vol. 34, No. 1, Feb 1997. 67-81 pp.
Silver Spring, Maryland. In Eng.
"In this paper we focus on
the influence of mortality decline on the long run finances of the
[U.S.] Social Security system, excluding Medicare. The paper is divided
into three parts. In the first part we develop an analytic approach for
deriving comparative static effects of different mortality levels....In
the second part...we consider the likely extent of mortality declines
in the coming decades....In the third part, we combine the work of the
first two parts in dynamic simulations to examine the implications of
mortality decline and of alternative forecasts of mortality for the
finances of the Social Security system. Also, we develop stochastic
population forecasts as outlined by Lee and Tuljapurkar (1994) of the
Social Security finances, which we compare to recent Social Security
Administration forecasts, and use to assess the relative importance of
uncertainty in mortality and fertility."
Correspondence:
R. Lee, University of California, Department of Demography, 2232
Piedmont Avenue, Berkeley, CA 94720. E-mail: rlee@demog.berkeley.edu.
Location: Princeton University Library (SPR).
63:20074 Olshansky, S. Jay; Carnes, Bruce
A. Ever since Gompertz. Demography, Vol. 34, No. 1,
Feb 1997. 1-15 pp. Silver Spring, Maryland. In Eng.
"In 1825
British actuary Benjamin Gompertz made a simple but important
observation that a law of geometrical progression pervades large
portions of different tables of mortality for humans. The simple
formula he derived describing the exponential rise in death rates
between sexual maturity and old age is commonly referred to as the
Gompertz equation--a formula that remains a valuable tool in demography
and in other scientific disciplines. Gompertz's observation of a
mathematical regularity in the life table led him to believe in the
presence of a law of mortality that explained why common age patterns
of death exist....In this paper we review the literature on Gompertz's
law of mortality and discuss the importance of his observations and
insights in light of research on aging that has taken place since
then."
Correspondence: S. J. Olshansky, University of
Chicago, Department of Medicine, 5841 South Maryland Avenue, MC 6098,
Chicago, IL 60637. E-mail: sjayo@cicero.spc.uchicago.edu. Location:
Princeton University Library (SPR).
63:20075 Ostroot, Nathalie M.
Estimating urban mortality under the ancien régime:
Aix-en-Provence and Toulouse in 1695. [L'estimation de la
mortalité urbaine sous l'ancien régime: Aix-en-Provence
et Toulouse en 1695.] Population, Vol. 52, No. 1, Jan-Feb 1997. 63-75
pp. Paris, France. In Fre. with sum. in Eng; Spa.
"When
estimates of death rates were established for the end of the
seventeenth century, some of the calculated rates were so low that it
was presumed that a serious under registration of deaths had
occurred....This study [translated from the original English] reports
the results of an exhaustive research of all the burial registers
corresponding to the many burial sites existing in Aix-en-Provence and
Toulouse in 1695. The investigation uncovered numerous burials that had
been overlooked by earlier research. The revised burial statistics
imply death rates that are comparable to rates believed to be reliable
for other cities at the end of the seventeenth
century."
Correspondence: N. M. Ostroot, 5 rue des
Chaudronniers, 13100 Aix-en-Provence, France. Location:
Princeton University Library (SPR).
63:20076 Tan, K. C.; Low, C. K.
Contributions of various major causes of death to life expectancy
in Singapore, 1980-1990. Singapore Medical Journal, Vol. 37, No.
4, 1996. 348-51 pp. Singapore. In Eng.
"This paper considers
the contributions by age of the various major groups of deaths to the
increase in life expectancy at birth between 1980 and 1990 for both
sexes in Singapore. Sixteen cause groups were used in the study. The
data were analysed using LIFETIME, a personal computer package with a
wide variety of methods for mortality investigations. Respiratory
diseases made the largest contribution to the increase in life
expectancy for both sexes. In contrast, ischaemic heart disease made a
negative contribution of 1% in the gain in female life expectancy but
contributed 12% improvement for males. Life tables for Singaporean
males and females in the year 2000 were projected by extrapolating the
mortality trends observed in earlier periods. The calculations show the
life expectancy at birth in the year 2000 to be 74.72 years for males
and 79.48 years for females."
Correspondence: K. C.
Tan, Nanyang Technological University, Nanyang Business School,
Division of Actuarial Science and Insurance, Singapore 639798.
Location: Princeton University Library (SPR).
Studies dealing primarily with fetal and neonatal mortality, except those dealing with spontaneous abortions, which are classified under F.3. Sterility and Other Pathology, and those studies dealing with induced abortions, which are classified under F.4.5. Induced Abortion. Perinatal mortality is defined as mortality occurring between the twenty-eighth week of gestation and the seventh day of life.
63:20077 Kristensen, Petter; Irgens, Lorentz
M.; Bjerkedal, Tor. Environmental factors, reproductive
history, and selective fertility in farmers' sibships. American
Journal of Epidemiology, Vol. 145, No. 9, May 1, 1997. 817-25 pp.
Baltimore, Maryland. In Eng.
Using data on births to Norwegian
farmers, it is shown that there is a relationship between grain farming
and giving birth in mid-pregnancy, probably associated with the
labor-inducing effect of mycotoxins from grain field fungi. "The
effect of the mother's reproductive history on the grain
farming-midpregnancy delivery association was analyzed in 59,338
farmers with more than one single birth in 1967-1991. A history of
preterm birth [less than 37 weeks] in previous or subsequent
pregnancies both was an independent determinant of midpregnancy
delivery and also increased the effect of grain exposure. Nongrain
farmers with a history of only term births had 1.3 midpregnancy
deliveries per 1,000 births; grain farmers with a history of only term
births had 1.8 cases per 1,000;...nongrain farmers with a history of
preterm birth had 6.8 cases per 1,000...whereas grain farmers with a
history of preterm birth had 13.7 cases per 1,000....Selective
fertility had only a marginal impact on the association. The study
demonstrates that a maternally based design can contribute in the
assessment of joint effects of environmental and maternal
factors."
Correspondence: P. Kristensen, National
Institute of Occupational Health, P.O. Box 8149 Dep, 0033 Oslo, Norway.
Location: Princeton University Library (SZ).
63:20078 Waldhoer, T.; Haidinger, G.;
Langgassner, Jeannette; Tuomilehto, J. The effect of
maternal age and birth weight on the temporal trend in stillbirth rate
in Austria during 1984-1993. Wiener Klinische Wochenschrift, Vol.
108, No. 20, 1996. 643-8 pp. Vienna, Austria. In Eng. with sum. in Ger.
"We assessed the risk of stillbirth in Austria during
1984-1993 in dependence of the variables maternal age, birth weight,
year of birth and sex. All children born in Austria between 1984 and
1993 were included in the study (905,939 births)....During the study
period, stillbirths decreased significantly in Austria. Both birth
weight and maternal age had a non-linear association with the risk of
stillbirth....We also found a significant interaction between birth
weight and year of birth suggesting that the effect of birth weight was
not stable over the years. The proportion of young mothers (<20
years) decreased clearly over the observation
period."
Correspondence: T. Waldhoer, University of
Vienna, Department of Epidemiology, Institute of Tumor Biology--Cancer
Research, Borschkegasse 8a, 1090 Vienna, Austria. Location:
Princeton University Library (SPR).
Studies of infant mortality under one year of age, including neonatal mortality occurring after the seventh day of life, and childhood mortality after one year of age. The subject of infanticide, deliberate or implied, is also classified under this heading.
63:20079 Bloland, Peter; Slutsker, Laurence;
Steketee, Richard W.; Wirima, Jack J.; Heymann, David L.; Breman, Joel
G. Rates and risk factors for mortality during the first
two years of life in rural Malawi. American Journal of Tropical
Medicine and Hygiene, Suppl., Vol. 55, No. 1, 1996. 82-6 pp. Atlanta,
Georgia. In Eng.
"In a rural Malawian community we
investigated risk factors for deaths occurring during the neonatal
(birth--28 days), postneonatal (29-365 days), infant (birth-365 days),
and second-year (366-730 days) periods among a cohort of 3,724 infants
monitored from birth....The predominate risk factors for neonatal
deaths identified in multivariate analysis were low (hazard ratio
[HR]=2.3) and very low birth weight (HR=12.7), first pregnancy (HR=1.8)
and maternal syphilis infection (HR=2.4). Maternal infection with human
immunodeficiency virus (HIV) (HR=1.5) predominated for postneonatal
deaths. Low (HR=1.4) and very low (HR=5.0) birth weight, first
pregnancy (HR=1.6), maternal HIV infection (HR=2.4), and the
combination of low education and low socioeconomic status (SES) of the
mother (HR=2.0) were the most important factors during the infant
period."
Correspondence: P. Bloland, Centers for
Disease Control and Prevention, Division of Parasitic Diseases,
National Center for Infectious Diseases, 1600 Clifton Road, Atlanta, GA
30333. Location: Princeton University Library (SPR).
63:20080 Desgrées du Loû,
Annabel; Pison, Gilles. The role of vaccination in the
reduction of childhood mortality in Senegal. Population: An
English Selection, Vol. 8, 1996. 95-121 pp. Paris, France. In Eng.
"The aim of the present paper is to evaluate the role of
vaccination programmes in the reduction of childhood mortality in
Africa, by taking Senegal as a case study....[We] use the Bandafassi
population laboratory data to study at a finer level the relationship
between the two. In part I, we describe the decline of childhood
mortality in Senegal since the end of the Second World War and review
the different health programmes implemented during this period. In part
II, we measure more specifically the impact of the immunization
programme in rural Bandafassi, discuss its weaknesses and the scope for
improvement."
For the original French version, see 62:10115.
Correspondence: A. Desgrées du Loû,
Musée de l'Homme, Muséum National d'Histoire Naturelle,
Laboratoire d'Anthropologie Biologique, 17 Place du Trocadéro,
75116 Paris, France. Location: Princeton University Library
(SPR).
63:20081 Han, Youngja; Lee, Seungwook; Doh,
Serok. A method of estimating infant deaths in Korea.
Health and Social Welfare Review, Vol. 16, No. 2, Winter 1996. 167-85
pp. Seoul, Korea, Republic of. In Eng. with sum. in Kor.
"The
goal of this project was to develop a new method for estimating infant
deaths in [South] Korea. An attempt was made to collect information on
real infant death cases by using...medical insurance benefit data and
by conducting a medical facilities survey, which allows us to [trace]
back the fate of the births from the delivery. Another strategy
employed was the gathering of information on infant deaths from the
various existing sources and integrating them into one set after
adjusting for overlapping cases among the
sources."
Location: Princeton University Library
(SPR).
63:20082 Langford, I. H.; Bentham, G.
A multilevel model of sudden infant death syndrome in England and
Wales. Environment and Planning A, Vol. 29, No. 4, Apr 1997.
629-40 pp. London, England. In Eng.
The relationship between
migration and sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS) in England and Wales
is analyzed using official data for the period 1979-1983. "In this
paper, multilevel modelling is used to examine the variability in SIDS
deaths at different geographical scales, namely district, county, and
regional levels. Given the population-mixing hypothesis, it is possible
that high levels of population mixing in one district will have an
effect on the spread of infections in an adjacent district, and the
rates for individual districts will not be spatially independent of
each other. Factors such as climate varying at regional scale may also
be important. A log-linear multilevel model is developed to examine
these issues, and the discussion focuses on the methodological issues
raised by the analysis such as appropriate multilevel structure,
methods of estimation, dispersion of residuals, and significance of
parameter estimates."
Correspondence: I. H. Langford,
University of East Anglia, Centre for Social and Economic Research on
the Global Environment, Norwich NR4 7TJ, England. E-mail:
i.langford@uea.ac.uk. Location: Princeton University Library
(UES).
63:20083 Macció, Guillermo A.; Damonte,
Ana M. Child and adolescent mortality in Uruguay. [La
mortalidad de la niñez y en la adolescencia en el Uruguay.]
Notas de Población, Vol. 24, No. 63, Jun 1996. 61-116 pp.
Santiago, Chile. In Spa. with sum. in Eng.
"Uruguay can be
ranked among the countries with fairly reliable vital statistics. The
last population census included questions about ever-born and surviving
children which allow [the derivation of] independent estimations
relative to level and trends of infant and early childhood mortality.
The purpose of this paper is to estimate such parameters based on 1985
Census information and compare them with those of 1975. Furthermore,
particular interest is paid to the differentials which show that
Uruguayan society is no longer the homogeneous society it seemed to be
decades ago....The last chapter is devoted to examining infant
mortality by causes of death. This section evaluates the amount of
lives that could be saved, if deaths due to exogenous factors are
avoided."
Correspondence: G. A. Macció, Avenida
Baltasar Brum 654, Apartado 803, Colonia del Sacramento, C.P. 70.000,
Uruguay. Location: Princeton University Library (SPR).
63:20084 McMurray, Christine.
Measuring excess risk of child mortality: an exploration of DHS I
for Burundi, Uganda and Zimbabwe. Journal of Biosocial Science,
Vol. 29, No. 1, Jan 1997. 73-91 pp. Cambridge, England. In Eng.
"This paper proposes a new method of measuring excess risk of
child mortality in cross-sectional surveys, which is applied to DHS I
data for Burundi, Uganda and Zimbabwe. The expected child mortality
experience is estimated for each mother on the basis of child's age,
mother's age at child's birth and her parity, and compared with her
observed experience. Mothers who exceed their expected child mortality
experience and also had more than one child die are considered to have
excess child mortality. Zimbabwe had the greatest concentration of
child deaths as measured by a simple ratio of mothers to deaths, but
when observed experience was compared with expected it had less than
half as many excess deaths as Uganda and Burundi. In all three
countries mother's education had a strong negative association with the
risk of excess child mortality, and in Zimbabwe and Burundi there were
significant regional differences."
Correspondence: C.
McMurray, Australian National University, Graduate Studies in
Demography, Canberra, ACT 0200, Australia. Location: Princeton
University Library (SPR).
63:20085 Shell-Duncan, Bettina.
Determinants of child survival in traditional societies: the
application and test of a theoretical framework. Seattle
Population Research Center Working Paper, No. 97-5, 1997. 31 pp.
University of Washington, Seattle Population Research Center: Seattle,
Washington; Battelle Seattle Research Center: Seattle, Washington. In
Eng.
"The study of biobehavioral factors affecting child
survival has long been a central concern in biological
anthropology....In this paper, an analytical framework for the study of
child survival, adopting a proximate determinants approach, is
developed and tested among nomadic Turkana children in northwest Kenya.
In this model, cellular immunocompetence is proposed as a proximate
determinant of morbidity and mortality, mediating the effect of
nutritional stress. Results of the case study among Turkana children
demonstrate that cellular immunocompetence can be measured reliably in
a remote field setting, and that these measures are, in fact,
sensitive, meaningful indicators of child health, providing important
prognostic information on the risk of infectious morbidity.
Furthermore, findings of this study support the positioning of cellular
immunocompetence as a key factor mediating the effects of nutritional
stress on child survival."
Correspondence: B.
Shell-Duncan, University of Washington, Department of Anthropology,
P.O. Box 353100, Seattle, WA 98195. E-mail: bsd@u.washington.edu.
Location: Princeton University Library (SPR).
63:20086 Slutsker, Laurence; Bloland, Peter;
Steketee, Richard W.; Wirima, Jack J.; Heymann, David L.; Breman, Joel
G. Infant and second-year mortality in rural Malawi:
causes and descriptive epidemiology. American Journal of Tropical
Medicine and Hygiene, Suppl., Vol. 55, No. 1, 1996. 77-81 pp. Atlanta,
Georgia. In Eng.
"Prospective follow-up of infants born to
women enrolled in the Mangochi Malaria Research Project (MMRP) [in
Malawi] provided an opportunity to investigate the causes and
circumstances of death in this cohort....Reported here are the
predominant clinical syndromes or causes of mortality and certain
descriptive features of these deaths including age at death, duration
of preceding illness, whether treatment was sought, and location of
death (home versus health facility) among children dying in the
neonatal, postneonatal, and second year of life." The authors find
that "in this area of rural sub-Saharan Africa, neonatal mortality
contributes substantially to infant mortality, and prematurity is
considered to be an important component of early neonatal deaths;
infectious disease syndromes predominate in the postneonatal and second
year of life."
Correspondence: L. Slutsker, Centers
for Disease Control and Prevention, Division of Bacterial and Mycotic
Diseases, Foodborne and Diarrheal Diseases Branch, Mailstop A-38,
Atlanta, GA 30333. Location: Princeton University Library
(SPR).
63:20087 Tabeau, Ewa. Changing
definitions in infant mortality: a case study of the Netherlands,
1843-1991. Bevolking en Gezin, No. 1, 1994. 79-107 pp. Brussels,
Belgium. In Eng.
"This article resulted from research on Dutch
mortality by age, period, and cohort in the years 1843-1991, conducted
at the Netherlands Interdisciplinary Demographic Institute (NIDI) in
The Hague. Changing definitions of terms used in infant mortality
analysis in the entire period are investigated, and their impact on
stillbirths, infant deaths, and (live and total) births are
demonstrated. Sex and age-specific trends in infant mortality in the
Netherlands, recalculated due to current definitions, are presented and
commented. Finally, some reflections on the possible future trends of
infant mortality in the Netherlands are
discussed."
Correspondence: E. Tabeau, Netherlands
Interdisciplinary Demographic Institute, Postbus 11650, 2502 AR The
Hague, Netherlands. Location: Princeton University Library
(SPR).
63:20088 United Nations. Comisión
Económica para América Latina y el Caribe [CEPAL]
(Santiago, Chile); United Nations. Centro Latinoamericano de
Demografía [CELADE] (Santiago, Chile); United Nations. Fondo de
las Naciones Unidas para la Infancia [UNICEF]. Oficina Regional para
América Latina y el Caribe (Santiago, Chile). Latin
America: child mortality. A database for 1995. [América
Latina: mortalidad en la niñez. Una base de datos actualizada en
1995.] CELADE Serie OI, No. 109, Pub. Order No. LC/DEM/G.157. Dec 1995.
244 pp. Santiago, Chile. In Spa.
This report presents a summary of
the data on infant and child mortality in Latin America as available in
1995. The data are presented individually by country for five-year
periods from 1960 to 1995, and include information on mortality
differences by socioeconomic factors such as maternal education and
place of residence. An introductory section reviews the situation for
the region as a whole.
Correspondence: UN Centro
Latinoamericano de Demografía, Edificio Naciones Unidas, Avenida
Dag Hammarskjold, Casilla 91, Santiago, Chile. Location:
Princeton University Library (SPR).
Studies of age-specific mortality and of mortality in special groups defined by age.
63:20089 Asuzu, M. C.; Johnson, O. O.; Owoaje,
E. E.; Rotimi, C. N.; Kaufman, J. S.; Cooper, R. S.
Questions on adult mortality. World Health Forum, Vol. 17, No.
4, 1996. 373-6 pp. Geneva, Switzerland. In Eng.
"Using verbal
autopsy, a study on adult mortality is being conducted in Ibadan,
Nigeria. The ultimate goal is to develop a capacity for establishing
the crude and cause-specific adult mortality rates in a traditional
urban community by this method....The principal problem was the
reluctance of the local people to discuss deaths of adults in the
community. Other impediments included the low rate of utilization of
formal health services and the small proportion of deaths occurring in
hospitals."
Correspondence: J. S. Kaufman, Loyola
University Medical Center, Department of Preventive Medicine and
Epidemiology, 2160 S. First Avenue, Maywood, IL 60153. Location:
Princeton University Library (SPR).
63:20090 Kushi, Lawrence H.; Fee, Rebecca M.;
Folsom, Aaron R.; Mink, Pamela J.; Anderson, Kristin E.; Sellers,
Thomas A. Physical activity and mortality in
postmenopausal women. JAMA: Journal of the American Medical
Association, Vol. 277, No. 16, Apr 23-30, 1997. 1,287-92 pp. Chicago,
Illinois. In Eng.
The association between physical activity and
all-cause mortality in postmenopausal women is analyzed using data on
40,417 Iowa women aged 55-69 in 1986. The "results demonstrate a
graded, inverse association between physical activity and all-cause
mortality in postmenopausal women. These findings strengthen the
confidence that...recommendations to engage in regular physical
activity are applicable to postmenopausal
women."
Correspondence: L. H. Kushi, University of
Minnesota, School of Public Health, Division of Epidemiology, 1300 S.
Second Street, Suite 300, Minneapolis, MN 55454-1015. Location:
Princeton University Library (SZ).
63:20091 Nusselder, Wilma J.; Mackenbach,
Johan P. Rectangularization of the survival curve in the
Netherlands, 1950-1992. Gerontologist, Vol. 36, No. 6, Dec 1996.
773-82 pp. Washington, D.C. In Eng.
"In this article we
determine whether rectangularization of the survival curve occurred in
the Netherlands in the period 1950-1992. Rectangularization is defined
as a trend toward a more rectangular shape of the survival curve due to
increased survival and concentration of deaths around the mean age at
death....Our results show that absolute and relative rectangularization
of the entire survival curve occurred in both sexes and over the
complete period (except for the years 1955-1959 and 1965-1969 in men).
At older ages, results differ between sexes, periods, and an absolute
versus a relative definition of rectangularization....The implications
of the recent rectangularization at older ages for achieving
compression of morbidity are discussed."
Correspondence:
W. J. Nusselder, Erasmus University Rotterdam, Department of
Public Health, Postbus 1738, 3000 DR Rotterdam, Netherlands.
Location: Princeton University Library (PR).
Studies that present actual life table data and all studies concerned primarily with life tables, including the appropriate methodological studies. Life table studies that are concerned with topics other than mortality are classified under the appropriate heading and cross-referenced to this heading.
63:20092 Chung, Sung J.
Comprehensive life table of computer-assisted predictive
mathematical relationship between age and life expectancy, survival
probability or death rate in U.S. adults. Computer Methods and
Programs in Biomedicine, Vol. 52, No. 1, 1997. 67-73 pp. Amsterdam,
Netherlands. In Eng.
"A microcomputer program in BASIC for
predicting life expectancy by age in U.S. adults was designed. Formulas
used in this study were derived from the data reported by the National
Center for Health Statistics. A comprehensive life table that shows the
relationship between age and death rate, survival probability or life
expectancy for each year between 25 and 85 years of age was obtained in
this study, using a newly designed computer program for predicting life
expectancy by age and the program for survival probability previously
published by the author. The comprehensive life table may be useful for
clinical evaluation of patients and further helpful for biomedical
investigation and epidemiological evaluation of U.S.
adults."
Correspondence: S. J. Chung,
Morristown-Hamblen Hospital, Department of Pathology, 908 West Fourth
North Street, Morristown, TN 37814. Location: Princeton
University Library (SPR).
63:20093 Honkanen, Ossi. Life
tables, 1991-1995. [Kuolleisuus- ja eloonjäämistauluja
1991-95/Dödlighets- och livslängdstabeller.]
Väestö/Befolkning/Population, No. 1997:4, ISBN 951-727-311-8.
1997. 34 pp. Tilastokeskus: Helsinki, Finland. In Fin. with sum. in
Eng; Swe.
"This publication comprises life tables for
[Finland] by type of municipality and province compiled for the period
1991-1995 and probability of death rates by marital
status."
Correspondence: Tilastokeskus, P.O. Box 3B,
00022 Helsinki, Finland. Location: Princeton University
Library (SPR).
63:20094 Jiménez Ornelas, René
A. Inequalities in mortality in Mexico: life tables for
the Mexican Republic and its administrative divisions, 1990. [La
desigualdad de la mortalidad en México: tablas de mortalidad
para la República Mexicana y sus entidades federativas, 1990.]
ISBN 968-36-4767-7. 1995. [138] pp. Universidad Nacional
Autónoma de México, Centro Regional de Investigaciones
Multidisciplinarias: Cuernavaca, Mexico. In Spa.
Mortality trends
in Mexico for the period 1900-1980 are first described. Next, the
author assesses the impact on mortality of the economic and social
crises that occurred in 1990. Following a description of the
methodology used, abbreviated life tables are presented for the whole
country and its major administrative divisions.
Correspondence:
Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, Centro
Regional de Investigaciones Multidisciplinarias, Avenida Universidad
s/n, Segundo Circuito 2, Col. Chamilpa, Cuernavaca, Estado Morelos,
Mexico. Location: Princeton University Library (SPR).
63:20095 Panama. Dirección de
Estadística y Censo (Panama City, Panama).
Panamanian statistics. The demographic situation. Abbreviated life
tables for the whole republic and the provinces by sex: five-year
periods from 1990-1995 to 2005-2010. [Estadística
panameña. Situación demográfica. Tablas abreviadas
de vida de la república, por provincia, segun sexo: quinquenio
1990-95 al 2005-10.] Boletín Especial, No. 4, May 1996. 51 pp.
Panama City, Panama. In Spa.
Abbreviated life tables by sex are
presented for Panama for five-year periods from 1990 to
2010.
Correspondence: Dirección de
Estadística y Censo, Contraloría General de la
República, Apartado 5213, Panama City 5, Panama. Location:
Princeton University Library (SPR).
Studies on the ratio of mortality in different subgroups of a population, classified according to certain criteria, such as sex, social class, occupation, and marital status. Also includes studies on excess mortality and comparative mortality.
63:20096 Almgren, Gunnar; Guest, Avery;
Immerwahr, George; Spittel, Michael. Joblessness, family
disruption, and violent death in Chicago 1970-1990. Seattle
Population Research Center Working Paper, No. 97-1, May 1996. 23, [15]
pp. University of Washington, Seattle Population Research Center:
Seattle, Washington; Battelle Seattle Research Center: Seattle,
Washington. In Eng.
"Utilizing 1970 and 1990 census data and
vital records for 75 Chicago community areas, this paper examines the
relationships between joblessness, family disruption, and all three
forms of violent death across the black and non-black community area
populations of Chicago at two distinct time points corresponding to
William Julius Wilson's theory of the evolvement of urban underclass
communities....The findings suggest that both homicide rates and
accidental death rates are similarly predicted by high rates of
joblessness and family disruption, and that these relationships have
strengthened across both black and non-black communities over time.
These relationships also vary by race and gender, but are generally
stronger for males."
This is a revised version of a paper
originally presented at the 1996 Annual Meeting of the Population
Association of America.
Correspondence: G. Almgren,
University of Washington, School of Social Work, Seattle, WA 98195.
Location: Princeton University Library (SPR).
63:20097 Courbage, Youssef; Khlat,
Myriam. Mortality and causes of death of Moroccans in
France, 1979-91. Population: An English Selection, Vol. 8, 1996.
59-94 pp. Paris, France. In Eng.
"The results of a study by
Michèle Tribalat showed that the death rates of immigrants in
France were surprisingly low: they were not only better than the
national average, but far better than the rates specific to the
socio-occupational categories the immigrants belonged to. Was this due
to observation errors, to selection of the fittest applicants for
immigration, or to the fact that immigrants adapted positively, that
is, by taking the best (health services, living conditions...) and
leaving the worst (overnutrition, road accidents...)? [The authors]
investigate these questions here with respect to Moroccans living in
France, first by a general analysis, then by a study of the causes of
death. They confirm the surprisingly low mortality of Moroccan
immigrants. But incidentally, in the case of mobility within France,
adult mortality was shown to be roughly 11% lower among men who had
changed regions at least once than among those who had
not."
For the original French version, see 61:20163.
Correspondence: Y. Courbage, Institut National d'Etudes
Démographiques, 27 rue du Commandeur, 75675 Paris Cedex 14,
France. Location: Princeton University Library (SPR).
63:20098 Davey Smith, George; Hart, Carole;
Blane, David; Gillis, Charles; Hawthorne, Victor. Lifetime
socioeconomic position and mortality: prospective observational
study. British Medical Journal, Vol. 314, No. 7080, Feb 22, 1997.
547-52 pp. London, England. In Eng.
The influence of socioeconomic
status on risk factors for cardiovascular disease, morbidity, and
mortality from various causes is analyzed using data originally
collected between 1970 and 1973 on 5,766 Scottish men aged 35-64 who
were followed up over a 21-year period. The results show significant
differences by socioeconomic status in mortality from various causes.
They also indicate that the relative importance of these causes of
death varies over the course of an individual's lifetime. The authors
conclude that "studies with data on socioeconomic circumstances at
only one stage of life are inadequate for fully elucidating the
contribution of socioeconomic factors to health and mortality
risk."
Correspondence: G. Davey Smith, University of
Bristol, Department of Social Medicine, Bristol BS8 2PR, England.
Location: Princeton University Library (SZ).
63:20099 Giraldes, Maria do R.; Ribeiro, Ana
C. C. Socioeconomic inequalities in mortality in Portugal
in the period 1980/1982-1990/1992. [Desigualdades
sócio-económicas na mortalidade em Portugal no
período 1980/1982-1990/1992.] Revista Portuguesa de Saúde
Pública, Vol. 13, No. 4, Oct-Dec 1995. 5-28 pp. Lisbon,
Portugal. In Por. with sum. in Eng; Fre.
Using data from the
censuses of 1981 and 1991, this article provides an analysis of
mortality differentials by occupation in Portugal. The focus is on
differences in the causes of death by sex for seven categories of
occupations ranging from the professional and technical level to
industrial workers. The study is part of a wider study on mortality
differences in developed countries that is being carried out under the
auspices of the European Union.
Correspondence: M. do R.
Giraldes, Escola Nacional de Saúde Pública, Avenida Padre
Cruz, 1699 Lisbon Codex, Portugal. Location: Princeton
University Library (SPR).
63:20100 Horiuchi, Shiro.
Postmenopausal acceleration of age-related mortality increase.
Journal of Gerontology: Biological Sciences, Vol. 52, No. 1, 1997.
78-92 pp. Washington, D.C. In Eng.
"The force of natural
selection to eliminate deleterious genes is attenuated with advancing
age, allowing senescence to evolve. This suggests that a distinctly
marked end of the reproduction period is likely to be followed by an
acceleration of senescence. It is thus expected that menopause should
trigger an acceleration of age-related mortality increase in human
females. Such an abrupt initiation of mortality acceleration is not
predicted for human males at the same ages, whose fecundity declines
more gradually. Life table aging rate patterns for selected
industrialized countries generally support this hypothesis. A
cause-of-death decomposition analysis indicates that the sex
differential in mortality acceleration is mainly due to cardiovascular
diseases, which is consistent with the prevalent view that
postmenopausal changes in the sex hormone status may affect lipoprotein
metabolism, and in turn, raise the risk of
arteriosclerosis."
Correspondence: S. Horiuchi,
Rockefeller University, 1230 York Avenue, Box 20, New York, NY
10021-6399. E-mail: horiush@rockvax.rockefeller.edu. Location:
Princeton University Library (SPR).
63:20101 Kampert, James B.; Blair, Steven N.;
Barlow, Carolyn E.; Kohl, Harold W. Physical activity,
physical fitness, and all-cause and cancer mortality: a prospective
study of men and women. Annals of Epidemiology, Vol. 6, No. 5, Sep
1996. 452-7 pp. New York, New York. In Eng.
"We studied
physical fitness and physical activity in relation to all-cause and
cancer mortality in a cohort of 7,080 women and 25,341 men examined at
the Cooper Clinic in Dallas, Texas, during 1970 to 1989....After
adjustment for baseline differences in age, examination year, cigarette
habit, chronic illnesses, and electrocardiogram abnormalities, we found
a strong inverse association between risk of all-cause mortality and
level of physical fitness in both men and women....Among
women...self-reported physical activity was not significantly related
to risk of death from all causes. The risk of mortality from cancer
declined sharply across increasing levels of fitness among
men...whereas among women the gradient was suggestive but not
significant....Physically active men also were at lower risk of death
from cancer than were sedentary men...but among women physical activity
was unrelated to cancer mortality."
Correspondence: S.
N. Blair, Cooper Institute for Aerobics Research, 12330 Preston Road,
Dallas, TX 75230. Location: Princeton University Library
(SPR).
63:20102 Lützeler, Ralph.
Regional differences in mortality in Japan--mortality as an
indicator of regional living conditions. [Räumliche
Unterschiede der Sterblichkeit in Japan--Sterblichkeit als Indikator
regionaler Lebensbedingungen.] Bonner Geographische Abhandlungen, No.
89, ISBN 3-427-76391-9. 1994. 247 pp. Ferd. Dümmlers Verlag: Bonn,
Germany. In Ger.
Using Japanese data, this study examines the
hypothesis that spatial patterns of death rates may be used as
indicators of regional quality-of-life levels. After a historical
overview of Japanese mortality trends, current mortality variables are
analyzed for their spatial variability. The next chapter considers
possible distorting effects on mortality statistics, such as migration
and variations in cause-of-death diagnoses, and discusses environmental
and lifestyle factors suspected of being related to regional mortality
differences. Several multivariate methods are then employed to study
possible relationships between mortality and environmental factors. The
study finds that elevated infant and child mortality is related to
certain conditions typical for rural areas; high mortality among those
aged 35-64 points to problematic socioeconomic conditions; and the
mortality of the aged is correlated significantly with nutritional
factors, winter temperatures, and the quality of the preventive health
care system. Finally, the author identifies particular regions in Japan
that display distinctive interactions between mortality and
environmental conditions.
Correspondence: Ferd.
Dümmlers Verlag, 53113 Bonn, Germany. Location:
University of Michigan Library, Ann Arbor, MI.
63:20103 McElduff, Patrick; Dobson, Annette
J. How much alcohol and how often? Population based
case-control study of alcohol consumption and risk of a major coronary
event. British Medical Journal, Vol. 314, No. 7088, Apr 19, 1997.
1,159-64 pp. London, England. In Eng.
Alcohol consumption patterns
are compared between 11,511 cases of acute myocardial infarction or
coronary death and 6,077 controls in a population of men and women aged
35-69 living in the Lower Hunter region of New South Wales, Australia,
in the period 1983-1994. The authors conclude that "frequency and
quantity of alcohol consumption are important in assessing the risk of
a major coronary event. Risk is lowest among men who report one to four
drinks daily on five or six days a week and among women who report one
or two drinks daily on five or six days a
week."
Correspondence: P. McElduff, University of
Newcastle, Department of Statistics, Newcastle, NSW 2308, Australia.
Location: Princeton University Library (SZ).
63:20104 Murphy, Mike. Marital
status and mortality: an epidemiological viewpoint. Zeitschrift
für Bevölkerungswissenschaft, Vol. 21, No. 3, 1996. 303-17
pp. Munich, Germany. In Eng. with sum. in Fre; Ger.
"This
study examined the available marital status patterns of all-cause
mortality in England, Wales and Scotland throughout the twentieth
century. It also assessed bias in the mortality rates by considering
the consistency of marital status information available from samples of
records of people who died shortly after they were enumerated in a
census. It is concluded that bias is present, but consistent over time
and that the married still have lower death rates than the others after
adjustment for this. Marriage also appears to be associated with
greater protection for men than women. However there are difficulties
with making more detailed comparisons by type of marital status because
of bias. The implications of these true differences in mortality by
legal marital status are discussed given the social and demographic
changes taking place."
Correspondence: M. Murphy,
University of Oxford, Department of Public Health and Primary Care,
Unit of Health Care Epidemiology, Gibson Building, Radcliffe Infirmary,
Oxford OX2 6HE, England. Location: Princeton University
Library (SPR).
63:20105 Notkola, Veijo; Pajunen, Airi;
Leino-Arjas, Päivi. Occupational mortality by cause
in Finland 1971-91 and occupational mobility.
Terveys/Hälsa/Health, No. 1997:1, ISBN 951-727-318-5. 1997. 146
pp. Tilastokeskus: Helsinki, Finland. In Eng.
The aim of this study
is to describe mortality differences by occupational categories in
Finland. The role of occupational mobility is also examined. The study
is based on the 1970-1985 Finnish census records, which were linked
with all death certificates during the period 1971-1991. The data
include information about 6 million people permanently living in
Finland. The results show that mortality is highest among manual
workers, both men and women. The more detailed the occupational and
cause-of-death classification, the greater the mortality differences by
occupation. Mortality differences by occupation were very similar in
the 1980s to those of 1971-1991. Men entering high-mortality
occupations from outside the labor force have markedly
higher-than-average mortality. The results for women are not quite so
clear-cut. In addition, mortality of the retired is in general higher
than average if the retired persons are from a high-mortality
occupation.
Correspondence: Tilastokeskus, P.O. Box 3B,
00022 Helsinki, Finland. Location: Princeton University
Library (SPR).
63:20106 Shaper, A. Gerald; Wannamethee, S.
Goya; Walker, Mary. Body weight: implications for the
prevention of coronary heart disease, stroke, and diabetes mellitus in
a cohort study of middle aged men. British Medical Journal, Vol.
314, No. 7090, May 3, 1997. 1,311-7 pp. London, England. In Eng.
Data from the British Regional Heart Study involving 7,735 men aged
40-59 are used to determine the body mass index associated with the
lowest morbidity and mortality. The average follow-up was 14.8 years.
The results suggest that a healthy body mass index in these middle-aged
men is about 22.
Correspondence: A. G. Shaper, Royal Free
Hospital School of Medicine, Department of Primary Care and Population
Sciences, London NW3 2PF, England. Location: Princeton
University Library (SZ).
63:20107 Shrestha, Laura B.
Racial differences in life expectancy among elderly African
Americans and whites: the surprising truth about comparisons.
Garland Studies on the Elderly in America, ISBN 0-8153-2764-1. LC
96-30016. 1997. xiii, 170 pp. Garland Publishing: New York, New
York/London, England. In Eng.
"The book evaluates the
consistency of reported data between the two major sources of data for
calculation of mortality statistics in the United States: censuses and
death registration. The focus is on the older population (aged 60 and
above), where mortality trends have the greatest impact on social
programs and where data quality is most problematic. Using demographic
techniques, age-specific inconsistencies between the sources are
evaluated for both whites and African-Americans for two periods:
1970-1980 and 1980-1990." Particular attention is given to the
phenomenon of crossover mortality. The author discusses whether the
lower mortality rate observed among elderly blacks compared to whites
could be a reflection of biological superiority or whether it is an
artifact of poor data quality. The results suggest that the ages of
African Americans are considerably overstated in censuses, and that
there are serious consequences for research based on official
population and vital registration data at advanced
ages.
Correspondence: Garland Publishing, 717 Fifth Avenue,
Suite 2500, New York, NY 10022. Location: Princeton University
Library (SPR).
63:20108 Sudhakaran, M. V.; Vijayavalli,
B. Genetic effects of inbreeding on mortality among the
Pulayas of Alappuzha, Kerala. Demography India, Vol. 25, No. 2,
Jul-Dec 1996. 199-204 pp. Delhi, India. In Eng.
"Despite being
a vast conglomerate of various endogamous castes, communities and
tribes providing excellent material for consanguinity studies in India,
reports on such investigation in India are fragmentary and only a few
reports on genetic load are available in literature....The data on the
effects of inbreeding on mortality among the Pulayas of Alappuzha
district of Kerala [are] used here for estimating the genetic load in
the group."
Correspondence: M. V. Sudhakaran,
University of Kerala, Department of Botany, Kariavattom,
Thiruvananthapuram 695 581, India. Location: Princeton
University Library (SPR).
63:20109 Wei, Ming; Valdez, Rodolfo A.;
Mitchell, Braxton D.; Haffner, Steven M.; Stern, Michael P.; Hazuda,
Helen P. Migration status, socioeconomic status, and
mortality rates in Mexican Americans and non-Hispanic whites: the San
Antonio Heart Study. Annals of Epidemiology, Vol. 6, No. 4, 1996.
307-13 pp. New York, New York. In Eng.
"The present study
compared all-cause mortality of non-Hispanic whites with that of United
States-born and foreign-born (i.e., born in Mexico) Mexican Americans.
Subjects were 3,735 residents of San Antonio, TX, who were followed-up
for 7-8 years. The sex-age adjusted death rates per 1,000 person-years
were higher for United States-born Mexican Americans (5.7) than for
non-Hispanic whites (3.8) or for foreign-born Mexican Americans (3.6).
Foreign-born Mexican Americans had the lowest socioeconomic status
(SES), and non-Hispanic whites had the highest SES....[The] data
suggest that lower SES is strongly associated with increased mortality.
After adjustment for SES, mortality rates were similar for United
States-born Mexican Americans and non-Hispanic whites. Foreign-born
Mexican Americans had the lowest mortality rates of the three
groups."
Correspondence: M. Wei, University of Texas
Health Science Center, Department of Medicine, Division of Clinical
Epidemiology, San Antonio, TX 78284-7873. Location: Princeton
University Library (SPR).
63:20110 Wild, Sarah; McKeigue, Paul.
Cross sectional analysis of mortality by country of birth in
England and Wales, 1970-92. British Medical Journal, Vol. 314, No.
7082, Mar 8, 1997. 705-10 pp. London, England. In Eng.
Mortality
differences in England and Wales among selected groups of immigrants,
including migrants from Scotland and Ireland, are analyzed using data
from the censuses of 1971 and 1991. The results suggest that
"widening differences in mortality ratios for migrants compared
with the general population were not simply due to socioeconomic
inequalities. The low mortality from all causes for Caribbean
immigrants could largely be attributed to low mortality from ischaemic
heart disease, which is unexplained. The excess mortality from
cerebrovascular and hypertensive diseases in migrants from both west
Africa and the Caribbean suggests that genetic factors underlie the
susceptibility to hypertension in people of black African
descent."
Correspondence: S. Wild, London School of
Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, Department of Epidemiology and
Population Sciences, Epidemiology Unit, London WC1E 7HT, England.
Location: Princeton University Library (SZ).
63:20111 Wilson, Margo; Daly, Martin.
Life expectancy, economic inequality, homicide, and reproductive
timing in Chicago neighbourhoods. British Medical Journal, Vol.
314, No. 7089, Apr 26, 1997. 1,271-4 pp. London, England. In Eng.
Vital statistics data for 77 neighborhoods in Chicago, Illinois,
are used to compare life expectancies at birth by sex. "In
comparisons among Chicago neighbourhoods, homicide rates in 1988-93
varied more than 100-fold, while male life expectancy at birth ranged
from 54 to 77 years, even with effects of homicide mortality removed.
This `cause deleted' life expectancy was highly correlated with
homicide rates; a measure of economic inequality added significant
additional prediction, whereas median household income did not. Deaths
from internal causes (diseases) show similar age patterns, despite
different absolute levels, in the best and worst neighbourhoods,
whereas deaths from external causes (homicide, accident, suicide) do
not. As life expectancy declines across neighbourhoods, women reproduce
earlier; by age 30, however, neighbourhood no longer affects age
specific fertility. These results support the hypothesis that life
expectancy itself may be a psychologically salient determinant of risk
taking and the timing of life transitions."
Correspondence:
M. Wilson, McMaster University, Department of Psychology,
Hamilton, Ontario L8S 4K1, Canada. Location: Princeton
University Library (SZ).
63:20112 Yuan, Jian-Min; Ross, Ronald K.; Gao,
Yu-Tang; Henderson, Brian E.; Yu, Mimi C. Follow up study
of moderate alcohol intake and mortality among middle aged men in
Shanghai, China. British Medical Journal, Vol. 314, No. 7073, Jan
4, 1997. 18-23 pp. London, England. In Eng.
The risks of death
associated with various patterns of alcohol intake in China are
examined using data on 18,244 men aged 45-64 enrolled in a prospective
study on diet and cancer carried out in Shanghai from 1986 to 1989. The
results show that "regular consumption of small amounts of alcohol
is associated with lower overall mortality including death from
ischaemic heart disease in middle aged Chinese men. The type of
alcoholic drink does not affect this
association."
Correspondence: J.-M. Yuan, University
of Southern California, School of Medicine, Comprehensive Cancer
Center, Los Angeles, CA 90033. Location: Princeton University
Library (SZ).
Studies of demographic relevance on causes of death. Studies of morbidity and of public health measures are included only if they relate specifically to mortality. Also included are maternal mortality and comparisons of causes.
63:20113 AbouZahr, Carla; Wardlaw, Tessa;
Stanton, Cynthia; Hill, Kenneth. Maternal mortality.
World Health Statistics Quarterly/Rapport Trimestriel de Statistiques
Sanitaires Mondiales, Vol. 49, No. 2, 1996. 77-87 pp. Geneva,
Switzerland. In Eng. with sum. in Fre.
"A new approach to
measuring maternal mortality indicates that there are some 585,000
maternal deaths [per year], 99% of them in developing countries. This
is around 80,000 deaths more than earlier estimates have suggested and
indicates a substantial underestimation of maternal mortality in the
past. There is a greater disparity in levels of maternal mortality
between industrialized and developing countries than in any other
public health indicator. While significant progress has been made in
reducing infant mortality, the same is not true for maternal mortality.
Although the actions needed to reduce maternal mortality have long been
known, 1 woman in 50 is still dying as a result of pregnancy-related
complications and the figure rises to 1 in 10 in many parts of Africa.
By contrast, the figure for developed countries can be as low as 1 in
8,000."
Correspondence: C. AbouZahr, World Health
Organization, Maternal Health and Safe Motherhood Programme, Avenue
Appia, 1211 Geneva 27, Switzerland. Location: Princeton
University Library (SPR).
63:20114 Abrahamowicz, Michal; du Berger,
Roxane; Grover, Steven A. Flexible modeling of the effects
of serum cholesterol on coronary heart disease mortality. American
Journal of Epidemiology, Vol. 145, No. 8, Apr 15, 1997. 714-29 pp.
Baltimore, Maryland. In Eng.
"In this study, we use a
nonparametric regression approach to reassess the effects of selected
continuous risk factors on the risk of CHD mortality, with particular
focus on two lipid measures: TC [total serum cholesterol] and the ratio
of TC to high density lipoprotein cholesterol (TC/HDL
cholesterol)." The data are from the Lipid Research Clinics
Program Prevalence and Follow-up Studies, involving 2,512 men in North
America for whom data was originally collected between 1972 and 1976,
and who did not take lipid-lowering medication. "Validation
studies confirmed that, among new observations arising from the same
population, generalized additive model estimates predicted outcomes
better than the parametric estimates. Nonlinear effects of both lipid
measures were robust and may be clinically important. The authors
conclude that the linearity assumption inherent in parametric models
may result in biased estimates of the effects of total serum
cholesterol on coronary heart disease mortality and recommend that
their findings be verified in a non parametric analysis of data from
another large prospective study."
Correspondence: M.
Abrahamowicz, Montreal General Hospital, Division of Clinical
Epidemiology, 1650 Cedar Avenue, Montreal, Quebec H3G 1A4, Canada.
Location: Princeton University Library (SZ).
63:20115 Amos, Amanda. Women and
smoking: a global issue. World Health Statistics Quarterly/Rapport
Trimestriel de Statistiques Sanitaires Mondiales, Vol. 49, No. 2, 1996.
127-33 pp. Geneva, Switzerland. In Eng. with sum. in Fre.
"Smoking kills over half a million women each year and is the
single most important preventable cause of female premature death in
several developed countries. However in many countries smoking is still
regarded as a mainly male problem. This paper explores the reasons why
more attention needs to be paid to smoking and women, even in countries
with low levels of female smoking. Included is an overview of the
patterns and trends of smoking among women, the factors which influence
smoking uptake and cessation in women, and some of the key challenges
facing developed and developing countries. It is argued that to be
successful in addressing the tobacco epidemic among women, tobacco
control policies need to encompass both gender-specific and
gender-sensitive approaches."
Correspondence: A. Amos,
University of Edinburgh, Medical School, Department of Public Health
Sciences, Edinburgh EH8 9YL, Scotland. Location: Princeton
University Library (SPR).
63:20116 Bacchetti, Peter.
Incidence of HIV-related deaths in the United States: seasonality
and trend. Statistics in Medicine, Vol. 16, No. 6, Mar 30, 1997.
645-52 pp. Chichester, England. In Eng.
"This paper examines
possible short-term patterns and distortions in the incidence of deaths
with AIDS in the United States, using methods previously applied to
incidence of AIDS diagnoses. The variation in death counts by calendar
month models fairly well as a seasonal pattern consistent with seasonal
variation in deaths from all causes. In addition, three apparently
non-biological short-term effects in AIDS incidence--a workday effect,
a jump between December and January, and a spike in June--are not
apparent in death incidence, and analysis of death counts in subgroups
does not show any strong evidence for non-biological influences on time
of death. Deseasonalized death incidence shows a steady increase over
time. Because death incidence is not subject to definition change and
is apparently less susceptible to other non-biological influences than
AIDS incidence, it may have value for monitoring the HIV
epidemic."
Correspondence: P. Bacchetti, University of
California, Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics, Box 0840, San
Francisco, CA 94143-0840. Location: Princeton University
Library (SPR).
63:20117 Beaglehole, Robert; Stewart, Alistair
W.; Jackson, Rod; Dobson, Annette J.; McElduff, Patrick; D'Este, Kate;
Heller, Richard F.; Jamrozik, Konrad D.; Hobbs, Michael S.; Parsons,
Richard; Broadhurst, Robyn. Declining rates of coronary
heart disease in New Zealand and Australia, 1983-1993. American
Journal of Epidemiology, Vol. 145, No. 8, Apr 15, 1997. 707-13 pp.
Baltimore, Maryland. In Eng.
This study presents the results of 10
years of monitoring trends in the rates of major coronary events and
deaths from coronary disease in Auckland, New Zealand, and in Newcastle
and Perth, Australia. "For nonfatal definite myocardial
infarction, there were statistically significant declines in rates in
all centers in both men and women, with estimated average changes
between 2.5% and 3.7% per year during the period 1984-1993. Rates of
all coronary deaths also declined significantly in all three
populations for both men and women. In absolute terms, there was, in
general, a greater reduction in prehospital deaths than in deaths after
hospitalization. Although 28-day case fatality remains high at between
35% and 50%, in the Australian centers it declined significantly by
between 1.0% and 2.9% per year, and in Auckland there was also a small
decline."
Correspondence: R. Beaglehole, University of
Auckland, Department of Community Health, Private Bag 92019, Auckland,
New Zealand. Location: Princeton University Library (SZ).
63:20118 Bonneux, Luc; Looman, Caspar W. N.;
Barendregt, Jan J.; Van der Maas, Paul J. Regression
analysis of recent changes in cardiovascular morbidity and mortality in
the Netherlands. British Medical Journal, Vol. 314, No. 7083, Mar
15, 1997. 789-92 pp. London, England. In Eng.
Official data for the
period 1969-1993 are used to examine whether recent declines in
mortality from coronary heart disease in the Netherlands are associated
with increased mortality from other cardiovascular diseases. The
results suggest that "improved management of coronary heart
disease seems to have reduced mortality, but some of the gains are lost
to deaths from stroke and other cardiovascular diseases. The increasing
numbers of patients with coronary heart disease who survive will
increase demands on health services for long term
care."
Correspondence: L. Bonneux, Erasmus University,
Department of Public Health, P.O. Box 1738, 3000 DR Rotterdam,
Netherlands. E-mail: bonneux@mgz.fgg.eur.nl. Location:
Princeton University Library (SZ).
63:20119 Cole, Philip; Rodu, Brad.
Declining cancer mortality in the United States. Cancer, Vol.
78, No. 10, Nov 15, 1996. 2,045-8 pp. New York, New York. In Eng.
"For as long as such statistics have been kept in the United
States, the overall age-adjusted cancer mortality rate had been
increasing. However, from 1990 to 1995, there occurred for the first
time a continuous and sustainable decline in cancer mortality in the
U.S. This article describes the decline and suggests major reasons for
it." Results indicate that "both cancer prevention
activities, especially those directed against smoking, and improvements
in medical care have produced an appreciable reduction in cancer
mortality in the United States."
Correspondence: P.
Cole, 221 TH, University Station, Birmingham, AL 35294-0008.
Location: Princeton University Library (SPR).
63:20120 Desjardins, Bertrand.
Demographic aspects of the 1702-1703 smallpox epidemic in the
St-Lawrence valley. Canadian Studies in Population, Vol. 23, No.
1, 1996. 49-67 pp. Edmonton, Canada. In Eng. with sum. in Fre.
"Data compiled by the Programme de recherche en
démographie historique of the Université de
Montréal were used to number and characterize deaths within the
population of European extraction from the 1702-1703 smallpox epidemic
in the St-Lawrence valley. Between 6% and 6.5% of the settled
population in the late fall of 1702 was eliminated by the disease;
adding the death of an extra 25% of newborns, the epidemic's toll
reached some 1,300. A significant proportion of adults died among the
Canadian-born population, surpassing 10% for women of childbearing ages
in particular. This proves that contrary to what most observers have
written, smallpox was not prevalent among the non-native population
during the XVIIth century."
Correspondence: B.
Desjardins, Université de Montréal, Département de
Démographie, C.P. 6128, Succursale Centre-Ville, Montreal,
Quebec H3C 317, Canada. Location: Princeton University Library
(SPR).
63:20121 Di Paola, Maurizio; Mastrantonio,
Marina; Carboni, Marcello; Belli, Stefano; Grignoli, Mario; Comba,
Pietro; Nesti, Massimo. Mortality from malignant pleural
neoplasms in Italy in the years 1988 to 1992. [La mortalità
per tumore maligno della pleura in Italia negli anni 1988-1992.]
Rapporti ISTISAN, No. 96/40, 1996. 30 pp. Istituto Superiore di
Sanità [ISTISAN]: Rome, Italy. In Ita. with sum. in Eng.
Mortality from malignant pleural neoplasms in Italy is analyzed
using official data. The results show higher mortality from this cause
in areas with shipyards, areas of asbestos-cement industrial
production, and areas of general major industrial production. The
relationship between mortality from this cause and exposure to asbestos
is identified as a topic for future study.
Correspondence:
Istituto Superiore di Sanità, Viale Regina Elena 299, 00161
Rome, Italy. Location: Princeton University Library (SPR).
63:20122 Garenne, Michel; Sauerborn, Rainer;
Nougtara, Adrien; Borchert, Matthias; Benzler, Justus; Diesfeld,
Jochen. Direct and indirect estimates of maternal
mortality in rural Burkina Faso. Studies in Family Planning, Vol.
28, No. 1, Mar 1997. 54-61 pp. New York, New York. In Eng.
"A
retrospective study of maternal mortality was conducted in Nouna, a
rural area of Burkina Faso in 1992. Strong evidence was found of a
major mortality decline among children and young adults over the 50
years preceding the study: the estimated life expectancy of 36 years in
around 1945 rose to 58 years in 1991. Direct and indirect (using the
sisterhood method) estimates of the maternal mortality ratio (MMR) were
compared. Overall, the direct estimate of the MMR (389 deaths per
100,000 live births) for women aged 15 and older was slightly lower
than the indirect estimate (428 deaths per 100,000). Taking into
account the biases involved in the use of information obtained from
sisters, the direct estimates indicated a marked decline in maternal
mortality over time from 569 deaths per 100,000 around 1941 to 305
deaths around 1987. The validity of both data and approach, as well as
the discrepancies between the direct and indirect methods, are
discussed."
Correspondence: M. Garenne, Centre
Français sur la Population et le Développement, 15 rue de
l'Ecole de Médecine, 75270 Paris Cedex 06, France. Location:
Princeton University Library (SPR).
63:20123 Horiuchi, Shiro; Wilmoth, John
R. Age patterns of the life table aging rate for major
causes of death in Japan, 1951-1990. Journal of Gerontology:
Biological Sciences, Vol. 52, No. 1, 1997. 67-77 pp. Washington, D.C.
In Eng.
"It has been widely supposed that human mortality from
all causes increases with age nearly exponentially (at a constant rate)
through adult ages except for very old ages, and that this exponential
increase also holds fairly well for most major causes of death (CODs).
However, the present analysis of death registration data from Japan,
1951-1990, reveals that the rate of age-related relative increase in
mortality (the life table aging rate) changes with age significantly
and systematically for many CODs. Above age 75, the mortality increase
decelerates for most CODs; under age 75, it remains at a relatively
stable pace for ischemic heart disease, decelerates for most major
cancers, and accelerates for diseases related to a declining ability to
maintain homeostasis (pneumonia, bronchitis, influenza,
gastroenteritis, and heart failure). These results seem to suggest that
significantly different types of senescent processes may underlie
atherogenesis, oncogenesis, and
immunosenescence."
Correspondence: S. Horiuchi,
Rockefeller University, 1230 York Avenue, Box 20, New York, NY
10021-6399. E-mail: horiush@rockvax.rockefeller.edu. Location:
Princeton University Library (SPR).
63:20124 Ibison, Judith M.; Swerdlow, Anthony
J.; Head, Jenny A.; Marmot, Michael. Maternal mortality in
England and Wales 1970-1985: an analysis by country of birth.
British Journal of Obstetrics and Gynaecology, Vol. 103, No. 10, Oct
1996. 973-80 pp. Oxford, England. In Eng.
The authors assess
"the risk of maternal mortality in immigrants to England and Wales
[using] death registrations, 1970-1985, by country of birth....Women
born in West Africa...and the Caribbean...were at very elevated risk of
maternal death and of the main causes of death. Women from Southern
Asia...and `Europe and the USSR'...were at moderate risk. Adjustment
for year of death increased the estimates of risk and women born in the
`Rest of the World' and Scotland were at significantly elevated
risk....An increased incidence of obstetric conditions in immigrant
groups may account for the elevated risk but it is also possible that
differences in care may account for some of the additional risk. The
pattern of increased risk does not appear to be explicable by the
parity or social class distribution of immigrants as far as data are
available on these."
Correspondence: J. M. Ibison,
Royal London School of Medicine, St. Bartholomew's, Charterhouse
Square, London EC1M 6BQ, England. Location: Princeton
University Library (SPR).
63:20125 Lumey, L. H.; Van Poppel, F. W.
A. The Dutch famine of 1944-1945: mortality and morbidity
in past and present generations. [De hongerwinter in
West-Nederland, 1944-1945: ziekte en sterfte toen en daarna.] Bevolking
en Gezin, No. 1, 1995. 27-48 pp. Brussels, Belgium. In Dut. with sum.
in Eng.
"During the last months of the Second World War the
Western part of the Netherlands was affected by an acute famine, known
as the `Hunger Winter'....By making use of unpublished data from the
Netherlands Central Bureau of Statistics estimates could be made of the
changes in mortality by cause of death and age for both sexes.
Mortality due to hunger was most common in the very young and the very
old whereas the effects in males were more pronounced than in females.
Hunger was a contributing factor to the increased mortality due to
infectious diseases and diseases of the digestive system....Several
studies on reproductive outcomes in the subsequent generation are also
discussed."
Correspondence: L. H. Lumey, Universiteit
van Amsterdam, Academisch Medisch Centrum, Meibergdreef 9, 1105 AZ
Amsterdam, Netherlands. Location: Princeton University Library
(SPR).
63:20126 Manton, Kenneth G.; Stallard, Eric;
Corder, Larry. Changes in the age dependence of mortality
and disability: cohort and other determinants. Demography, Vol.
34, No. 1, Feb 1997. 135-57 pp. Silver Spring, Maryland. In Eng.
"It is important to understand the ebbs and flows of
cause-specific mortality rates because general life expectancy trends
are the product of interactions of multiple dynamic period and cohort
factors. Consequently, we first review factors potentially affecting
cohort health [in the United States] back to 1880 and explore how that
history might affect the current and future cohort mortality risks of
major chronic diseases. We then examine how those factors affect the
age-specific linkage of disability and mortality in three sets of birth
cohorts assessed using the 1982, 1984, and 1989 National Long Term Care
Surveys and Medicare mortality data collected from 1982 to 1991. We
find large changes in both mortality and disability in those cohorts,
providing insights into what changes might have occurred and into what
future changes might be expected."
Correspondence: K.
G. Manton, Duke University, Center for Demographic Studies, Box 90088,
Durham, NC 27708-0088. E-mail: kgm@cds.duke.edu. Location:
Princeton University Library (SPR).
63:20127 McDermott, Jeanne M.; Slutsker,
Laurence; Steketee, Richard W.; Wirima, Jack J.; Breman, Joel G.;
Heymann, David L. Prospective assessment of mortality
among a cohort of pregnant women in rural Malawi. American Journal
of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene, Suppl., Vol. 55, No. 1, 1996. 66-70
pp. Atlanta, Georgia. In Eng.
"The Magnochi Malaria Research
Project (MMRP) was designed to examine the effect of malaria prevention
during pregnancy on birth weight and infant outcomes [in Malawi]. The
MMRP also provided an opportunity to examine prospectively mortality
among women who were consecutively enrolled at their first antenatal
clinic visit; followed through delivery; and they and their infant
followed for at least one year after delivery. We report here the
frequency and risk factors, including anemia, malaria and HIV
infection, for maternal death (during pregnancy and 42 days postpartum)
and nonmaternal death (from six weeks to one year postpartum) in this
prospectively followed cohort." The authors find "that for
rural Malawian women, pregnancy and delivery are risky periods, that
the death of the mother adversely affects the survival of her children,
and that HIV and anemia are important contributors to nonmaternal
mortality in reproductive-age women."
Correspondence:
J. M. McDermott, Mother Care, John Snow, 1616 N Fort Myer Drive,
11th Floor, Arlington, VA 22209. Location: Princeton
University Library (SPR).
63:20128 Murray, Christopher J. L.; Lopez,
Alan D. Mortality by cause for eight regions of the world:
Global Burden of Disease Study. Lancet, Vol. 349, No. 9061, May 3,
1997. 1,269-76 pp. London, England. In Eng.
This is the first of
four planned papers reporting results from the Global Burden of Disease
Study, a project attempting to provide comparable and accurate
estimates of causes of death for the year 1990 for the world's major
regions by age group and sex. The results indicate that "five of
the ten leading killers are communicable, perinatal, and nutritional
disorders largely affecting children. Non-communicable diseases are,
however, already major public health challenges in all regions.
Injuries, which account for 10% of global mortality, are often ignored
as a major cause of death and may require innovative strategies to
reduce their toll."
Correspondence: C. J. L. Murray,
Harvard University, Center for Population and Development Studies, 9
Bow Street, Cambridge, MA 02138. Location: Princeton
University Library (SZ).
63:20129 Shkolnikov, Vladimir; Meslé,
France; Vallin, Jacques. Health crisis in Russia. I.
Recent trends in life expectancy and causes of death from 1970 to
1993. Population: An English Selection, Vol. 8, 1996. 123-54 pp.
Paris, France. In Eng.
The authors analyze trends in life
expectancy and causes of death in Russia from 1970 to 1993, with a
focus on reasons for the recent declines in life expectancy.
"Before discussing the trends themselves, we shall...look at the
possible distortions that changes in data quality may have produced.
However, even if it has been exaggerated to some degree, nobody
contests the reality of the Soviet health crisis, and we shall attempt
to derive some explanation by analysing the age and cause-of-death
structures of mortality in Russia."
For the original French
version, see 62:20195.
Correspondence: V. Shkolnikov,
Centre of Demography and Human Ecology, Institute for Economic
Forecasting, Ul. Krassikova 32, INP RAN, 117418 Moscow, Russia.
Location: Princeton University Library (SPR).
63:20130 Shkolnikov, Vladimir; Meslé,
France; Vallin, Jacques. Health crisis in Russia. II.
Changes in causes of death: a comparison with France and England and
Wales (1970 to 1993). Population: An English Selection, Vol. 8,
1996. 155-89 pp. Paris, France. In Eng.
"Trends in Russian
mortality appear all the more negative in comparison with the very
favourable trends in most Western countries, especially during the last
two decades. To highlight the most damaging causes, we compare Russian
cause-specific mortality trends with those observed in France and
England and Wales, two countries for which we have reconstructed
continuous time series of deaths by cause....It was within the
framework of...30 categories [of causes] that we calculated death rates
by age group and standardized mortality rates by cause...."
For
the original French version, see 62:20196.
Correspondence:
V. Shkolnikov, Centre of Demography and Human Ecology, Institute
for Economic Forecasting, Ul. Krassikova 32, INP RAN, 117418 Moscow,
Russia. Location: Princeton University Library (SPR).
63:20131 United States. Centers for Disease
Control and Prevention [CDC] (Atlanta, Georgia). Trends in
ischemic heart disease deaths--United States, 1990-1994. Morbidity
and Mortality Weekly Report, Vol. 46, No. 7, Feb 21, 1997. 146-50 pp.
Atlanta, Georgia. In Eng.
"In 1994, a total of 481,458 persons
died as a result of ischemic heart disease (IHD), which comprises two
thirds of all heart disease--the leading cause of death in the United
States. This report presents trends in IHD mortality in the United
States for 1990-1994 (the latest year for which data are available) and
compares these trends by race, sex, and state. These findings indicate
IHD death rates decreased from 1990 through 1994; however, the rate of
decline was slower than rates of previously observed
declines."
Correspondence: Centers for Disease Control
and Prevention, 1600 Clifton Road, Atlanta, GA 30333. Location:
Princeton University Library (SPR).
