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.
64:10095 Anderson, Barbara A.; Silver, Brian
D. Issues of data quality in assessing mortality trends
and levels in the New Independent States. In: Premature death in
the New Independent States, edited by José L. Bobadilla,
Christine A. Costello, and Faith Mitchell. 1997. 120-55 pp. National
Academy Press: Washington, D.C. In Eng.
"This chapter
addresses issues of data quality that affect the interpretation of
reported mortality levels and trends in the New Independent States
(NIS). It presents an overview of data quality issues for readers who
are not necessarily specialists in demography or familiar with the
quality and types of data that are available from this part of the
world. We examine data from selected regions and dates, while drawing
the reader's attention to broader issues and the existing literature on
the quality of data from the former Soviet Union....The purpose of the
analysis is to identify ways of improving data collection in the NIS,
especially Central Asia, so that policies and interventions related to
health and mortality can be more effectively developed and
targeted."
Correspondence: B. A. Anderson, University
of Michigan, Population Studies Center, 1225 South University Avenue,
Ann Arbor, MI 48104-2590. Location: Princeton University
Library (SPR).
64:10096 Bobadilla, José L.; Costello,
Christine A.; Mitchell, Faith. Premature death in the New
Independent States. ISBN 0-309-05734-5. LC 97-67217. 1997. x, 404
pp. National Academy Press: Washington, D.C. In Eng.
"The
Workshop on Mortality and Disability in the New Independent States
[formed following the collapse of the Soviet Union] and the Workshop on
Adult Health Priorities and Policies in the New Independent States were
held in September and November 1994, respectively. This volume includes
an overview and revised versions of 13 of the papers that were
presented; the workshop agendas are presented as appendices....The
volume is organized in two parts....The first deals with the magnitude,
trends, and causes of premature death, while the second addresses the
proximate determinants of the diseases and injuries that cause the
greatest number of premature deaths and measures for their
reduction."
Selected items will be cited in this or subsequent
issues of Population Index.
Correspondence: National
Academy Press, 2101 Constitution Avenue NW, Box 285, Washington, D.C.
20055. Location: Princeton University Library (SPR).
64:10097 Bobadilla, José L.; Costello,
Christine A. Premature death in the New Independent
States: overview. In: Premature death in the New Independent
States, edited by José L. Bobadilla, Christine A. Costello, and
Faith Mitchell. 1997. 1-33 pp. National Academy Press: Washington, D.C.
In Eng.
The authors briefly outline the papers presented in this
volume. "Chapters 2 through 6 examine the evidence for declining
life expectancy in the NIS [New Independent States of the former Soviet
Union] to determine the magnitude of the decline and the extent to
which it is attributable to statistical rather than substantive
issues....Chapters 7 through 14 examine possible causes for the large
number of excess deaths in the NIS. They focus on three key health
behaviors--alcohol consumption, tobacco consumption, and diet--and
describe preventive health interventions in these three areas that have
proven effective in other industrialized
countries."
Correspondence: C. A. Costello, National
Research Council, 2101 Constitution Avenue NW, Washington, D.C. 20418.
Location: Princeton University Library (SPR).
64:10098 Brui, B.; Zbarskaya, I.; Volkov,
A. On the present and future state of mortality in the
Russian Federation. [O sovremennom sostoyanii i prognoze
smertnosti naseleniya Rossiiskoi Federatsii.] Voprosy Statistiki, No.
3, 1997. 54-8 pp. Moscow, Russia. In Rus.
Recent mortality trends
in the Russian Federation are analyzed using data from official
sources. Most of the data presented concern the period 1960-1996. Data
are included on the mortality of the economically active population and
on infant mortality and the causes of infant deaths. Consideration is
given to probable future trends in mortality.
Correspondence:
B. Brui, Goskomstat Rossii, Izmailovskoe Shosse 44, 105679 Moscow,
Russia. Location: Princeton University Library (SPR).
64:10099 Capocaccia, Riccardo; Farchi, Gino;
Barcherini, Sabrina; Verdecchia, Arduino; Mariotti, Sergio; Scipione,
Riccardo; Feola, Giuseppe; Cariani, Giovanni. Mortality in
Italy in 1992. [La mortalità in Italia nell'anno 1992.]
Rapporti ISTISAN, No. 97-32, 1997. ii, 60 pp. Istituto Superiore di
Sanità [ISTISAN]: Rome, Italy. In Ita. with sum. in Eng.
Data for mortality in Italy in 1992 are presented by age group and
cause of death. Regional totals are also included. The data are taken
from official sources.
Correspondence: Istituto Superiore
di Sanità, Viale Regina Elena 299, 00161 Rome, Italy.
Location: Princeton University Library (SPR).
64:10100 Chen, Michael C.; Lee,
Mei-lin. Marital status and life expectancy. Journal
of Population Studies, No. 18, Jun 1997. 19-38 pp. Taipei, Taiwan. In
Chi. with sum. in Eng.
"[Many] researchers [have] used RMR
(Relative Mortality Rate) to study marital status and mortality trying
to reveal the selection and protection effects of marriage on death.
This study instead employs life table technique to analyze their
effects on life expectancy. Although this study does not intend to
differentiate the relative importance between selection and protection
effects,...modeling various hypothetical cohort's marital experiences
in [the] life course allows us to control all [factors other] than the
sole effect of marital status."
Correspondence: M. C.
Chen, National Chung-Cheng University, Institute of Social Welfare,
Taipei, Taiwan. Location: Princeton University Library (SPR).
64:10101 Kingkade, W. Ward; Arriaga, Eduardo
E. Mortality in the New Independent States: patterns and
impacts. In: Premature death in the New Independent States, edited
by José L. Bobadilla, Christine A. Costello, and Faith Mitchell.
1997. 156-83 pp. National Academy Press: Washington, D.C. In Eng.
The authors review mortality patterns in the countries of the
former Soviet Union. They first "review data and measurement
issues, respectively, that are encountered in examining mortality
patterns in the NIS countries. Next we present results for mortality
levels and cause of death. We then briefly examine mortality trends
during the 10-year period, 1979-1989, preceding the breakup of the
Soviet Union. The final section presents a discussion of the
results."
Correspondence: W. W. Kingkade, U.S. Bureau
of the Census, Center for International Research, Soviet Branch,
Washington, D.C. 20233. Location: Princeton University Library
(SPR).
64:10102 Martens, W. J. M.
Climate change, thermal stress and mortality changes. Social
Science and Medicine, Vol. 46, No. 3, Feb 1998. 331-44 pp. Oxford,
England. In Eng.
"One of the potential effects of an
anthropogenically induced climate change is a change in mortality
related to thermal stress. In this paper, existing literature on the
relationship between average temperatures and mortality is evaluated.
By means of a simple meta-analysis an aggregated effect of a change in
temperature on mortality is estimated for total, cardiovascular and
respiratory mortality. These effect estimates are combined with
projections of changes in baseline climate conditions of 20 cities
[around the world], according to climate change scenarios of three
General Circulation Models (GCMs). The results indicate that for most
of the cities, included, global climate change is likely to lead to a
reduction in mortality rates due to decreasing winter
mortality."
Correspondence: W. J. M. Martens,
Maastricht University, Department of Mathematics, P.O. Box 616, 6200 MD
Maastricht, Netherlands. Location: Princeton University
Library (PR).
64:10103 Murray, Christopher J. L.; Bobadilla,
José L. Epidemiological transitions in the Formerly
Socialist Economies: divergent patterns of mortality and causes of
death. In: Premature death in the New Independent States, edited
by José L. Bobadilla, Christine A. Costello, and Faith Mitchell.
1997. 184-219 pp. National Academy Press: Washington, D.C. In Eng.
The authors examine levels, trends, and patterns of causes of death
in the Formerly Socialist Economies, a region consisting of Eastern
Europe and the New Independent States. The focus is on
"identifying the patterns that may explain [the region's] unusual
mortality experience....[One section] presents results of the analysis
with respect to mortality patterns and years of life lost. This is
followed by discussion of the unique mortality trends and
cause-of-death patterns in the region of the Formerly Socialist
Economies that includes the northern European former Soviet republics.
The final section presents conclusions."
Correspondence:
C. J. L. Murray, Harvard University, Center for Population and
Development Studies, 9 Bow Street, Cambridge, MA 02138. Location:
Princeton University Library (SPR).
64:10104 Palamuleni, Martin E.
Mortality level, trends and differentials in Malawi. Eastern
and Southern Africa Geographical Journal, Vol. 5, No. 1, 1994. 68-74
pp. Nairobi, Kenya. In Eng.
"This article examines the levels,
and trends and differentials in mortality in Malawi....The study has
shown that (i) the level of mortality is very high in Malawi; (ii)
mortality has declined during the period under review; (iii) there was
reduction in the rate of mortality decline in the seventies; and (iv)
[there are] interesting differences in mortality in terms of
rural-urban localities, regions and age-sex differentials. The observed
levels, trends and differentials in mortality are however consistent
with the level of social and economic development in the
country."
Correspondence: M. E. Palamuleni, Chancellor
College, Demographic Unit, P.O. Box 280, Zomba, Malawi. Location:
Cornell University Library, Ithaca, NY.
64:10105 Palloni, Alberto; Hill,
Kenneth. The effects of economic changes on mortality by
age and cause: Latin America, 1950-90. In: Demographic responses
to economic adjustment in Latin America, edited by Georges Tapinos,
Andrew Mason, and Jorge Bravo. 1997. 75-128 pp. Clarendon Press:
Oxford, England. In Eng.
"The question that we attempt to
answer in this paper concerns the association between economic
fluctuations and mortality changes [by age and cause] in Latin American
countries during the period 1955-90. We are interested in elucidating
the existence, magnitude, direction, and trends of linkages during a
period that witnessed both sustained (but not continuous) economic
prosperity--basically the years between 1949 and 1965--as well as
severe economic recession--the period after 1975. We are also
interested in determining whether the association between economic
oscillations and mortality varies across countries in ways that are
consistent with the conjecture that adjudicates similarities between
`poor' Third World countries and pre-industrial Europe, on the one
hand, and `richer' Third World countries and contemporaneous developed
countries, on the other...."
Correspondence: A.
Palloni, University of Wisconsin, Center for Demography and Ecology,
4412 Social Science Building, 1180 Observatory Drive, Madison, WI
53706-1393. Location: Princeton University Library (SPR).
64:10106 Shkolnikov, Vladimir M.;
Meslé, France; Vallin, Jacques. Recent trends in
life expectancy and causes of death in Russia, 1970-1993. In:
Premature death in the New Independent States, edited by José L.
Bobadilla, Christine A. Costello, and Faith Mitchell. 1997. 34-65 pp.
National Academy Press: Washington, D.C. In Eng.
"This paper
has presented an analysis of the trends in Russian mortality during
1970-1993 by specific causes and the effects on life expectancy,
differentiated by both age and sex. It has also focused on trends in
certain specific causes, including cancer, cardiovascular diseases, and
alcohol and violence. The findings presented help elucidate the cause
components and patterns that contribute to the distinctive picture of
Russian mortality during this period."
Correspondence:
V. M. Shkolnikov, Russian Academy of Sciences, Institute for
Forecasting the National Economy, Leninsky Pr. 14, 117901 Moscow,
Russia. Location: Princeton University Library (SPR).
64:10107 Tabeau, Ewa. Mortality
in Poland since 1950. In: Population and family in the Low
Countries 1996/1997: selected current issues, edited by Hans van den
Brekel and Fred Deven. 1997. 101-40 pp. Nederlands Interdisciplinair
Demografisch Instituut [NIDI]: The Hague, Netherlands; Centrum voor
Bevolkings- en Gezinsstudiën [CBGS]: Brussels, Belgium. In Eng.
"In this contribution, mortality in Poland is investigated and
evaluated in comparison with other developed and less-developed
countries. The intention of this article was to evaluate mortality
statistics produced for Poland in the past, make necessary corrections
of the officially published indicators, and finally use the
recalculated statistics in the analysis of mortality trends and
patterns since 1950....The paper consists of five parts: Infant
mortality problems, the quality of existing life tables for Poland,
trends in overall mortality and cause-of-death components of mortality,
and finally, mortality in the transition years 1989-1993 evaluated from
the perspective of past trends."
Correspondence: E.
Tabeau, Netherlands Interdisciplinary Demographic Institute, Postbus
11650, 2502 AR The Hague, Netherlands. Location: Princeton
University Library (SPR).
64:10108 Vassin, Sergei A.; Costello,
Christine A. Spatial, age, and cause-of-death patterns of
mortality in Russia, 1988-1989. In: Premature death in the New
Independent States, edited by José L. Bobadilla, Christine A.
Costello, and Faith Mitchell. 1997. 66-119 pp. National Academy Press:
Washington, D.C. In Eng.
The authors analyze mortality trends in
Russia by spatial differentials, age, and causes of death for the years
1988-1989. They examine "the variation in mortality levels in
Russia in 1988-1989 by selected causes of death: injuries,
cardiovascular disease, and neoplasms....Differences in underlying age
patterns of mortality are then investigated....Next, the chapter
compares the Russian mortality patterns with Coale-Demeny model life
tables, other standard mortality patterns, and other European and U.S.
patterns."
Correspondence: S. A. Vassin, Russian
Academy of Sciences, Institute for Forecasting the National Economy,
Leninsky Pr. 14, 117901 Moscow, Russia. Location: Princeton
University Library (SPR).
64:10109 WHO European Centre for Environment
and Health (Copenhagen, Denmark); United Nations. Economic Commission
for Europe (Geneva, Switzerland); Statistics Netherlands (Amsterdam,
Netherlands); National Institute of Public Health and the Environment
(Amsterdam, Netherlands). Atlas of mortality in Europe:
subnational patterns, 1980/1981 and 1990/1991. WHO Regional
Publications, European Series, No. 75, ISBN 92-890-1339-7. 1997. xi,
245 pp. Copenhagen, Denmark. In Eng.
This atlas documents
geographical patterns of death in Europe in a series of maps. "The
Atlas does more than give national averages for all the main causes of
death in the WHO European Region; it gives data on regions within
countries and shows changes in mortality at this level between
1980/1981 and 1990/1991. Finally, it literally draws pictures of health
in Europe, presenting the data collected in vivid and informative maps
and bar charts."
Correspondence: WHO European Centre
for Environment and Health, WHO Regional Office for Europe,
Scherfigsvej 8, 2100 Copenhagen Ø, Denmark. 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.
64:10110 Hoyert, Donna L.
Cigarettes and fetal mortality as reported in 1990 vital
statistics. American Journal of Health Behavior, Vol. 20, No. 3,
May-Jun 1996. 77-82 pp. Star City, West Virginia. In Eng.
"This study uses [U.S.] vital statistics data for 39 states
and the District of Columbia to examine the association of fetal
mortality with cigarette use during pregnancy. Smokers are at increased
risk of experiencing a fetal loss, without considering other factors
that may differ between smokers and nonsmokers. Moreover, this
association persists when race, age, and education are controlled but
is attenuated when alcohol use is controlled. The difference in risk
for experiencing a fetal loss is greater for women who smoke 11-20
cigarettes daily than for those women who smoke 1-10 cigarettes daily
during pregnancy when background factors are
controlled."
Correspondence: D. L. Hoyert, U.S.
National Center for Health Statistics, Mortality Statistics Branch,
Division of Vital Statistics, 6525 Belcrest Road, Room 840,
Hyattsville, MD 20782. E-mail: DLH7@NCH08A.EM.CDC.GOV. Location:
New York University, Elmer Holmes Bobst Library, New York, NY.
64:10111 Winbo, Ingrid G. B.; Serenius,
Fredrik H.; Dahlquist, Gisela G.; Källen, Bengt A. J.
A computer-based method for cause of death classification in
stillbirths and neonatal deaths. International Journal of
Epidemiology, Vol. 26, No. 6, Dec 1997. 1,298-306 pp. Oxford, England.
In Eng.
"A computer-based method is presented for
determination of the cause of death in stillbirths and in neonatal
deaths....The study comprises 6,044 dead infants born in Sweden from
1983-1990....Specificity and sensitivity for each basic characteristic
varied, but for the modified Wigglesworth cause of death classification
the concordance was 88%. The weakest data refer to intrauterine deaths,
where pertinent information was often missing in the medical
registries."
Correspondence: I. G. B. Winbo,
Umeå University Hospital, Department of Paediatrics, 901 85
Umeå, Sweden. 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.
64:10112 Agdestein, Sjur.
Perinatal and infant mortality: trends and risk factors in Norway
1967-90. Acta Obstetricia et Gynecologica Scandinavica, Vol. 73,
Suppl., No. 160, 1994. 1-30 pp. Copenhagen, Denmark. In Eng.
"This paper provides a comprehensive analysis of perinatal and
infant mortality in Norway for 1967 through 1990. The effect and trends
of factors influencing perinatal and infant mortality are discussed
with emphasis on prevention. Strategies for perinatal and infant care
toward the year 2000 are outlined....First, the rank of Norway among
the OECD nations over time is discussed. Second, comparisons are made
of trends in perinatal and infant [mortality] in Norway, Sweden, the
USA, and Japan. Third, the 1988 mortality rates of the Scandinavian
countries and Japan are discussed. Finally, the preventable fraction of
perinatal and infant deaths in Norway is
assessed."
Location: Rutgers University Library, New
Brunswick, NJ.
64:10113 Al-Mazrou, Yagob Y.; Khan, Moslem U.;
Aziz, Khwaja M. S. Determinants of under-five mortality in
Saudi Arabia. Saudi Medical Journal, Vol. 18, No. 1, 1997. 31-6
pp. Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. In Eng.
"The study objectives were
to find out factors associated with infant and child mortality in Saudi
Arabia using the 1987 Saudi National Child Health Survey data....The
infant mortality rate (IMR) and child mortality rate (CMR) for the year
1985 were 55 and 63 for males and 50 and 58 for females." Other
factors considered include geographic region, rural or urban area,
maternal age, parity, reproductive behaviors, parents' education, and
father's occupation.
Correspondence: Y. Y. Al-Mazrou,
Ministry of Health, Department of Preventive Medicine, Riyadh 11176,
Saudi Arabia. Location: Princeton University Library (SPR).
64:10114 Al-Saadi, Abbas F.
Infant mortality and the economic embargo in Iraq. Population
Bulletin of ESCWA, No. 44, 1996. 45-66 pp. Amman, Jordan. In Eng.
"The purpose of this study is to shed light on infant
mortality rates in Iraq, including how they differ from place to place,
and to identify the variables behind such differences. It also aims at
showing the causes of change in the trend since 1991 when the allied
forces launched a war against the country and imposed an economic
embargo on it....Infant mortality rates can be divided into two main
categories: a higher category near the eastern border, probably, owing
in part to the Iran-Iraq war, and a lower category in the western part
of the country (with the exception of An Najaf) and the extreme
north."
Correspondence: A. F. Al-Saadi, University of
Baghdad, Geographic Section, Baghdad, Iraq. Location:
Princeton University Library (SPR).
64:10115 Baya, Banza. Parents'
education and child survival in Burkina Faso: the case of
Bobo-Dioulasso. [Instruction des parents et survie de l'enfant au
Burkina Faso: cas de Bobo-Dioulasso.] Les Dossiers du CEPED, No. 48,
ISBN 2-87762-111-1. Jan 1998. 27 pp. Centre Français sur la
Population et le Développement [CEPED]: Paris, France. In Fre.
with sum. in Eng.
The impact of father's education on child
survival is analyzed using data from the Enquête sur la
Mortalité Infantile dans le Sahel (EMIS), which was carried out
in the early 1980s in Burkina Faso. "Based on an analysis of data
from EMIS/Bobo-Dioulasso (Burkina Faso), the effect of mother's
education on child survival between 1 and 23 months becomes
non-significant when one controls for certain exogenous variables, in
particular father's education. There is a significant, independent,
positive impact of father's education on child survival. The results
obtained question the universality of the relation between mother's
education and child survival, and point out the necessity to take into
account father's characteristics when studying child
survival."
Correspondence: Centre Français sur
la Population et le Développement, 15 rue de l'Ecole de
Médecine, 75270 Paris Cedex 06, France. Author's E-mail:
baya@uerd.uerd.bf. Location: Princeton University Library
(SPR).
64:10116 Dong, Qing; Zhao, Yashuang; Zhang,
Xuefeng; Liu, Wenping; Yang, Lixue; Liu, Lijie; Wang, Lixia; Cui,
Jihong. A study on the trend of infant mortality in the
urban portion of Daowai District, Harbin City. Chinese Journal of
Population Science, Vol. 9, No. 3, 1997. 187-92 pp. New York, New York.
In Eng.
"This study [investigates]...the trend of infant
mortality [in Harbin City, China, and evaluates] the result of public
health endeavors and the population's reproductive health. It provides
a scientific basis for formulating public health policies and programs
and helps with research on infant mortality in other Chinese cities,
particularly the major metropolises." The study is based on data
for selected years from 1953 to 1994.
Correspondence: Q.
Dong, Harbin Medical University, Institute of Medicine and Population,
Harbin, China. Location: Princeton University Library (SPR).
64:10117 Gerylovová, Anna;
Holcík, Jan. Infant mortality in the Czech Republic
during 1980-1993 from a regional view. [Kojenecká
úmrtnost v Ceské republice v letech 1980-1993 v
regionálním pohledu.] Demografie, Vol. 39, No. 3, 1997.
173-8 pp. Prague, Czech Republic. In Cze. with sum. in Eng.
"This article deals with the evolution of infant mortality and
its components--postneonatal mortality and the stage after the
postneonatal mortality in the Czech Republic as a whole and [by]
regions and districts during the eighties....These three indicators
revealed a significant declining trend....In all eight regions the
infant mortality revealed a declining tendency as
well...."
Location: Princeton University Library
(SPR).
64:10118 Gortmaker, Steven L.; Wise, Paul
H. The first injustice: socioeconomic disparities, health
services technology, and infant mortality. Annual Review of
Sociology, Vol. 23, 1997. 147-70 pp. Palo Alto, California. In Eng.
"Infant mortality has long been viewed as a synoptic indicator
of the health and social condition of a population. In this article we
examine critically the structure of this reflective capacity with a
particular emphasis on how new health care technologies may have
altered traditional pathways of social influence....Current patterns of
infant mortality in the United States provide a useful illustration of
the dynamic interaction of underlying social forces and technological
innovation in determining trends in health outcomes. We review the
implications of this perspective for [future] sociological research
into disparate infant mortality...."
Correspondence:
S. L. Gortmaker, Harvard University, School of Public Health,
Department of Health and Social Behavior, 665 Huntington Avenue,
Cambridge, MA 02115. Location: Princeton University Library
(SPR).
64:10119 Hoa, D. P.; Höjer, B.; Persson,
L. Å. Are there social inequities in child morbidity
and mortality in rural Vietnam? Journal of Tropical Pediatrics,
Vol. 43, No. 4, Aug 1997. 226-31 pp. Oxford, England. In Eng.
"This study was conducted to investigate the relationship
between various socio-economic factors, and child morbidity and
mortality during a period of rapid social change in Vietnam. [1,132]
rural mothers with children under 5 years of age were
interviewed....Fifty-seven per cent of the children were reported to
have suffered from some illness during the preceding 2 weeks. Acute
respiratory infection (ARI) (46 per cent of all children) was most
common....Eighty-one children under 5 years of age had died during the
10-year period 1982-1992. Two-thirds of these deaths occurred in
infancy, most of them were related to prematurity, asphyxia or
tetanus."
Correspondence: D. P. Hoa, c/o Lars Å
Persson, Umeå University, Department of Epidemiology and Public
Health, 901 85 Umeå, Sweden. Location: Princeton
University Library (SPR).
64:10120 Khawaja, Khalid Z.
Infant and child mortality in Palestinian camps in Lebanon.
Population Bulletin of ESCWA, No. 44, 1996. 3-28 pp. Amman, Jordan. In
Eng.
"This study aims at producing acceptable estimates of a
number of indicators of infant and child mortality in Palestinian camps
in Lebanon by using the Brass technique. The study utilized data
provided by two comprehensive surveys...carried out in 1979 and
1989." Results are provided on the decline in infant mortality
between 1977 and 1989; the reduction in the probability of dying
between ages one and five; life expectancy at birth; sex differences in
infant mortality; and changes in death rates and life expectancy by
mother's educational level.
Correspondence: K. Z. Khawaja,
Arab Institute for Training and Research in Statistics, Baghdad, Iraq.
Location: Princeton University Library (SPR).
64:10121 Majumder, Abul K.; May, Marian; Pant,
Prakash D. Infant and child mortality determinants in
Bangladesh: are they changing? Journal of Biosocial Science, Vol.
29, No. 4, Oct 1997. 385-99 pp. Cambridge, England. In Eng.
"From the data of the 1989 Bangladesh Fertility Survey,
aggregate deaths reported at ages 0-12 and 13-60 months are used to
estimate infant and child mortality. Multivariate analysis shows that
the preceding birth interval length, followed by survival status of the
immediately preceding child, are the most important factors associated
with differential infant and child mortality risks; sex of the index
child and mother's and father's education are also significant.
Demographic factors are influential during infancy as well as
childhood, but social factors, particularly mother's and father's
education, now emerge as significant predictors of infant mortality
risks. This indicates a change in the role of socioeconomic factors,
since the earlier Bangladesh Fertility Survey in
1975."
Correspondence: A. K. Majumder, Australian
Bureau of Statistics, P.O. Box 10, Belconnen, ACT 2616, Australia.
Location: Princeton University Library (SPR).
64:10122 Marindo, Ravai; Hill,
Kenneth. Trends and differentials in child mortality:
Zimbabwe, 1970-1994. Zimbabwe Further Analysis, Oct 1997. iii, 16
pp. Macro International, Demographic and Health Surveys [DHS]:
Calverton, Maryland. In Eng.
This paper presents findings of
analyses that use data from the 1994 and 1988 Zimbabwe Demographic and
Health Surveys to examine time trends in mortality in young children as
well as differences in mortality risk among population subgroups in
Zimbabwe.
Correspondence: Macro International, Demographic
and Health Surveys, 11785 Beltsville Drive, Suite 300, Calverton, MD
20705-3119. E-mail: reports@macroint.com. Location: Princeton
University Library (SPR).
64:10123 Mason, William M.; Lavely, William;
Ono, Hiromi; Chan, Angelique. The decline of infant
mortality in China: Sichuan, 1949-1988. In: Social differentiation
and social inequality: essays in honor of John Pock, edited by James N.
Baron, David B. Grusky, and Donald J. Treiman. ISBN 0-8133-8883-X.
1996. 153-207 pp. Westview Press: Boulder, Colorado/Oxford, England. In
Eng.
"In this chapter we examine the role played by education
and other sociodemographic characteristics of individuals and families
in the decline of infant mortality [in China]. We also use information
we have been able to glean from official compendia on changes in the
public health infrastructure and the production of food....We are
[also] able to examine the relationship between aggregate income and
infant mortality. The second section of this chapter briefly reviews
the literature and discusses the data to be used. As preparation for
analysis of the decline of infant mortality, the third section explores
cross-sectional and temporal aspects of a single body of data--the
Sichuan component of the 1988 National Survey of Fertility and
Contraception (NSFC). Using the results of these explorations, in the
fourth section we examine possible correlates of the decline of infant
mortality, including changes in sociodemographic composition, income,
public health activity, and food production.
"
Correspondence: W. M. Mason, University of
California, Department of Sociology and Statistics, Hilgard Avenue, Los
Angeles, CA 90024. Location: Princeton University Library
(FST).
64:10124 Morelos, José B.
State of Mexico: analysis of some determinants of infant mortality
in the municipal area, 1990. [Estado de México:
análisis de algunos determinantes de la mortalidad infantil en
el ámbito municipal, 1990.] Estudios Sociológicos, Vol.
14, No. 41, May-Aug 1996. 417-34 pp. Mexico City, Mexico. In Spa.
The author analyzes determinants of infant mortality in 1990 in the
municipal area of the state of Mexico. Aspects considered include
mother's educational level, availability of health services, running
water in the home, and income. Results indicate that mother's
educational level is the strongest determinant of infant
mortality.
Correspondence: J. B. Morelos, El Colegio de
México, Centro de Estudios Demográficos y de Desarrollo
Urbano, Camino al Ajusco 20, 10740 Mexico City, DF, Mexico.
Location: Princeton University Library (PR).
64:10125 Muhuri, Pradip K.; Menken,
Jane. Adverse effects of next birth, gender, and family
composition on child survival in rural Bangladesh. Population
Studies, Vol. 51, No. 3, Nov 1997. 279-94 pp. London, England. In Eng.
"Child survival from ages one to five in Matlab, Bangladesh is
related to the length of the birth-to-subsequent conception interval
(BCI), family composition, health and family planning interventions,
and socioeconomic conditions. The BCI relationship consists of
short-term effects (related to the mother's pregnancy or the presence
of a very young sibling) and long-term effects (associated with having
a 6-18 month old younger sibling). Their impact is apparent at longer
intervals than previously thought. Girls with at least one sister are
especially vulnerable and all girls have greater risks when the next
child comes along. We conclude that the health and family planning
programme improves life chances of children, especially girls, directly
through provision of care, and indirectly through prevention of
unwanted births and longer child spacing. The differential allocation
of resources to children, indicated by the strong relationship of child
survival to the composition of the older sibling set, may indicate
previously unrecognized receptivity to family planning."
This
paper was originally presented at the 1993 Annual Meeting of the
Population Association of America.
Correspondence: P. K.
Muhuri, Cosmos Corporation, Bethesda, MD. Location: Princeton
University Library (SPR).
64:10126 Noymer, Andrew.
Estimates of under-five mortality in Botswana and Namibia: levels
and trends. IIASA Interim Report, No. IR-98-005, Jan 1998. iv, 22
pp. International Institute for Applied Systems Analysis [IIASA]:
Laxenburg, Austria. In Eng.
"Census data from 1991 from
Botswana and Namibia were analyzed using the `children ever born
technique' to estimate child mortality. The method used is reviewed
briefly, with emphasis on aspects not covered by the standard UN
reference on mortality estimation, Manual X. The census data appear to
be of very high quality for use with the children ever born technique.
Between the mid-1970s and the early 1990s, both Botswana and Namibia
experienced spectacular declines in under-five mortality....Rural areas
have higher mortality rates than urban areas, but both rural and urban
areas experienced similar declines. Plausible reasons for the dramatic
decline in mortality are discussed, and prospects for the future are
assessed." The full text is available on the World Wide Web at
www.iiasa.ac.at.
Correspondence: International Institute
for Applied Systems Analysis, 2361 Laxenburg, Austria. E-mail:
info@iiasa.ac.at. Location: Princeton University Library
(SPR).
64:10127 Reichman, Nancy E.; Pagnini, Deanna
L. Maternal age and birth outcomes: data from New
Jersey. Family Planning Perspectives, Vol. 29, No. 6, Nov-Dec
1997. 268-72, 295 pp. New York, New York. In Eng.
"The effects
of maternal age on low birth weight, newborns' hospital costs and
infant mortality were estimated based on individual 1989 and 1990 vital
statistics records from New Jersey that were linked with uniform
billing hospital discharge records. Results of multivariate analyses
show a U-shaped relationship between maternal age and low birth weight
among whites, with the youngest (younger than 15) and oldest (aged 40
and older) mothers being at higher risk than 25-29-year-olds; older
teenagers were not at any significantly increased risk. Among blacks,
however, 15-19-year-olds faced significantly lower risks of delivering
low-birth-weight babies than did black women aged 25-29. Both black and
white mothers in their 30s were significantly more likely to deliver a
low-birth-weight baby than women aged 25-29 of the same race. The
multivariate analysis also showed that newborn hospitalization costs
increased with maternal age among both blacks and
whites."
Correspondence: N. E. Reichman, Princeton
University, Office of Population Research, 21 Prospect Avenue,
Princeton, NJ 08544-2091. Location: Princeton University
Library (SPR).
64:10128 Reichman, Nancy E.; Pagnini, Deanna
L. The complicated relation between maternal age and birth
outcomes. OPR Working Paper, No. 96-4, Sep 1996. 14, [6] pp.
Princeton University, Office of Population Research [OPR]: Princeton,
New Jersey. In Eng.
"We estimate the effects of maternal age
on prenatal care, birthweight, infant mortality, and newborn hospital
costs [in New Jersey]....The poorer birth outcomes of teenage mothers
(except those under 15) are largely explained by their adverse social
and economic circumstances, and not by young maternal age per se. Women
30 and over appear to be at greater risk for poor birth outcomes than
teens of the same race, but have other offsetting factors that mask
this risk."
Correspondence: Princeton University,
Office of Population Research, 21 Prospect Avenue, Princeton, NJ
08544-2091. Location: Princeton University Library (SPR).
64:10129 Robles González, Elena; Pozzi,
Lucia. Infant mortality in the transition years: a
reflection of the Italian and Spanish experiences. [La mortalidad
infantil en los años de la transición: una
reflexión desde las experiencias italiana y española.]
Boletín de la Asociación de Demografía
Histórica, Vol. 15, No. 1, 1997. 165-99 pp. Madrid, Spain. In
Spa. with sum. in Eng; Fre.
"The first part of this article
deals with the main characteristics of the Italian and Spanish infant
mortality transition. Both experiences are placed within the European
context and a study of mortality by age and cause of death is carried
out. The second part intends to define a framework for the analysis of
the different factors involved in the decline of infant
mortality."
Correspondence: E. Robles González,
Universidad de Alicante, San Vicente del Raspeig, 03690 Alicante,
Spain. Location: Princeton University Library (SPR).
64:10130 Root, Graham. Population
density and spatial differentials in child mortality in Zimbabwe.
Social Science and Medicine, Vol. 44, No. 3, Feb 1997. 413-21 pp.
Oxford, England. In Eng.
"In Zimbabwe, the `Ndebele
provinces'--Matabeleland North and South--have significantly lower
levels of under-five mortality than the other (`Shona') provinces. This
regional differential is explored using the Zimbabwe Demographic and
Health Survey and census data. Factors other than population density
that may contribute to the differential are examined....The possibility
that regional variations in health care provision and/or cultural
factors contribute to the mortality differential is...examined and
rejected. Population densities in the Ndebele provinces are of a far
lower order than in the Shona provinces. The main causes of child
mortality in Zimbabwe in the time period under consideration were
diarrhoea, ALRI [acute lower respiratory tract infections], measles and
malaria. How population density may affect the transmission of these
infections and, hence, mortality is
discussed."
Correspondence: G. Root, University of
Liverpool, Department of Geography, Population Unit, Liverpool L69 3BX,
England. Location: Princeton University Library (FST).
64:10131 Sastry, Narayan.
Family-level clustering of childhood mortality risk in Northeast
Brazil. Population Studies, Vol. 51, No. 3, Nov 1997. 245-61 pp.
London, England. In Eng.
"The clustering of childhood
mortality risk by family in Northeast Brazil is investigated. The
extent of family clustering is estimated before and after controlling
for observed child and family demographic, reproductive, and
socioeconomic characteristics and unobserved community characteristics.
The study also investigates the extent to which the coefficient
estimates and standard errors are altered with better controls for
unobserved heterogeneity at the family level and at the community
level....The variance of family frailty is overstated by a factor of
four when unobserved community effects are omitted. The family-level
variance is not statistically significant in the multilevel model,
although it is highly significant in the model that includes only the
family frailty effect. Furthermore, ignoring the full design effects
results in systematic bias in parameter estimates and standard
errors."
Correspondence: N. Sastry, RAND, 1700 Main
Street, P.O. Box 2138, Santa Monica, CA 90407-2138. Location:
Princeton University Library (SPR).
64:10132 Shen, Ce; Williamson, John
B. Child mortality, women's status, economic dependency,
and state strength: a cross-national study of less developed
countries. Social Forces, Vol. 76, No. 2, Dec 1997. 667-700 pp.
Chapel Hill, North Carolina. In Eng.
"Many cross-national
studies of child mortality emphasize predictors linked to industrialism
theory; a smaller number consider those linked to dependency theory.
This study introduces two new perspectives to the analysis of
cross-national differences in child mortality rates: developmental
state theory and gender stratification theory. Panel regression (1960
to 1991) and LISREL models are used with a sample of 86 less developed
countries. We find that foreign investment and debt dependency have
adverse indirect effects on child mortality. These effects are mediated
by variables linked to industrialism theory and gender stratification
theory. Women's education, health, and reproductive autonomy all play
roles as mediating variables as does rate of economic growth. State
strength has a substantial beneficial direct effect on child mortality
rate."
Correspondence: J. B. Williamson, Boston
College, Department of Sociology, Chestnut Hill, MA 02167. E-mail:
john.williamson@bc.edu. Location: Princeton University Library
(SPR).
64:10133 Swenson, Ingrid E.; Thang, Nguyen
Minh; San, Phan Bich; Nhan, Vu Qui; Man, Vu Duy. Early
childhood survivorship in Viet Nam. Journal of Tropical Medicine
and Hygiene, Vol. 98, 1995. 204-8 pp. London, England. In Eng.
"The effects on early childhood mortality [in Viet Nam] of
birth order, age of the mother at the time of the child's birth,
mother's education, as well as infant mortality risk in the province,
urban/rural residence, the presence of schools and other facilities and
health care services, were examined....Rural children in birth orders
five and higher had the greatest risk of early childhood death, birth
order one an intermediate risk and orders 2-4 the lowest risk of early
childhood death. Rural children residing in communes with fewer than
10,000 inhabitants were at significantly greater risk of early
childhood death than children from larger communes. Neither age nor
education of the mother, nor gender of the child, had a significant
impact on early childhood survivorship independent of other
variables."
Correspondence: I. E. Swenson, University
of North Carolina, Carrington Hall, CB 7460, Chapel Hill, NC
27599-7460. Location: Princeton University Library (SPR).
64:10134 van de Mheen, Hendrike; Reijneveld,
Sijmen A.; Mackenbach, Johan P. Socioeconomic inequalities
in perinatal and infant mortality from 1854 to 1990 in Amsterdam, the
Netherlands. European Journal of Public Health, Vol. 6, No. 3, Sep
1996. 166-74 pp. Oxford, England. In Eng.
"Trends in
socioeconomic differences in infant and perinatal mortality in
Amsterdam were studied for the period 1854-1990, using published and
unpublished material, at the aggregate and at the individual
level....The results show a decrease of the absolute differences in
both infant and perinatal mortality. For infant mortality, this is
mainly due to the overall decline of the infant mortality rate.
Relative differences in infant mortality did not decrease during the
study period....It is concluded that although SEMD [socioeconomic
mortality differences] in infant and perinatal mortality have declined
in an absolute sense, they still exist and that the relative position
of deprived groups concerning infant mortality was not ameliorated
during the study period."
Correspondence: H. van de
Mheen, Erasmus University, Department of Public Health, P.O. Box 1738,
3000 DR Rotterdam, Netherlands. Location: Princeton University
Library (SPR).
Studies of age-specific mortality and of mortality in special groups defined by age.
64:10135 Cockerham, William C.
The social determinants of the decline of life expectancy in Russia
and Eastern Europe: a lifestyle explanation. Journal of Health and
Social Behavior, Vol. 38, No. 2, Jun 1997. 117-30 pp. Washington, D.C.
In Eng.
"This paper examines the social origins of the rise in
adult mortality in Russia and selected Eastern European countries.
Three explanations for this trend are considered: (1) Soviet health
policy, (2) social stress, and (3) health lifestyles....Although more
research is needed, the suggestion is made that poor health
lifestyles--reflected especially in heavy alcohol consumption, and also
in smoking, lack of exercise, and high-fat diets--are the major social
determinant of the upturn in deaths."
Correspondence:
W. C. Cockerham, University of Alabama, Department of Sociology,
237 Ullman, 1212 University Boulevard, Birmingham, AL 35294-3350.
E-mail: bcockerh@sbs.sbs.uab.edu. Location: Princeton
University Library (SW).
64:10136 Mullin, Charles; Philipson,
Tomas. The future of old-age longevity: competitive
pricing of mortality contingent claims. NBER Working Paper, No.
6042, May 1997. 25, [14] pp. National Bureau of Economic Research
[NBER]: Cambridge, Massachusetts. In Eng.
"This paper argues
that the competitive market prices of mortality contingent claims, such
as annuities and life insurance, contain information [that allows] one
to infer the opinion of the market regarding the pace of the continued
increase in old-age longevity. The paper develops methods to identify
and estimate the mortality implicit in the market prices of such claims
by identifying survival functions from prices of contracts that differ
in their duration. Utilizing these methods, we provide estimates using
cohort-specific prices of U.S. term life insurance contracts in 1990-96
for individuals aged 60 in each calendar year. Our main finding is that
the mortality patterns inferred from these prices indicate a continued
decline in cohort-specific mortality at rates equal to or greater than
recent historical trends; about a 5 percent reduction in relative terms
in the mortality hazards per successive
cohort."
Correspondence: National Bureau of Economic
Research, 1050 Massachusetts Avenue, Cambridge, MA 02138. Second
author's E-mail: t-philipson@uchicago.edu. Location: Princeton
University Library (PF).
64:10137 van Doorn, Carol; Kasl, Stanislav
V. Can parental longevity and self-rated life expectancy
predict mortality among older persons? Results from an Australian
cohort. Journals of Gerontology: Social Sciences, Vol. 53, No. 1,
Jan 1998. 28-45 pp. Washington, D.C. In Eng.
"This study
examined the effects of parental longevity and self-rated life
expectancy on mortality, building upon the established model of
self-rated health predicting mortality. A community sample of
Australians aged 70 and over was surveyed in 1992 and 1995. The
associations of interest were examined separately by sex using weighted
multiple logistic regression. Parental ages at death were not
associated with mortality for either men or women. In multivariate
models, self-rated life expectancy had an independent effect on men's
mortality and did not reduce the effect of self-rated health on
mortality. Our findings from Australia are consistent with results from
many countries; the effect of self-rated health [and self-rated life
expectancy] on mortality is stronger for men than for
women."
Correspondence: C. van Doorn, Yale University
School of Medicine, 60 College Street, P.O. Box 3333, New Haven, CT
06510. Location: Princeton University Library (SW).
64:10138 Vaupel, James W.
Trajectories of mortality at advanced ages. In: Between Zeus
and the salmon: the biodemography of longevity, edited by Kenneth W.
Wachter and Caleb E. Finch. 1997. 17-37 pp. National Academy Press:
Washington, D.C. In Eng.
"This chapter summarizes the key
research findings that pertain to the trajectory of mortality at
advanced ages. The basic finding is that mortality decelerates at older
ages. For some species, such as humans, death rates keep on going up
with age up to advanced ages but the rate of increase slows down. For
other species, such as medflies, death rates reach a plateau and then
fall dramatically. Why mortality decelerates at older ages, in all the
species for which large, careful studies have been conducted, is a
puzzle. The chapter concludes with an explanation of why this is a
puzzle and what might be the key to an answer. The research reported
here is based on collaborative efforts by scientists from different
backgrounds."
Correspondence: J. W. Vaupel, Max Planck
Institute for Demographic Research, Rostock, Germany. Location:
Princeton University Library (SPR).
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.
64:10139 Boleslawski, Lech. Life
tables and mortality by cause in 1996. [Trwanie zycia i
umieralnosc wedlug przyczyn w 1996 r.] Informacje i Opracowania
Statystyczne/Information and Statistical Papers, 1997. 48 pp. Glowny
Urzad Statystyczny: Warsaw, Poland. In Pol.
This report presents an
analysis of recent trends in mortality and causes of death in Poland
and provides life tables by sex for 1996.
Correspondence:
Glowny Urzad Statystyczny, Al. Niepodleglosci 208, 00-925 Warsaw,
Poland. Location: Princeton University Library (SPR).
64:10140 Lun, K. C. Mortality
analyses of the 1990 Singapore population: I. General life tables.
Annals Academy of Medicine, Singapore, Vol. 24, No. 3, May 1995. 382-92
pp. Singapore. In Eng.
"General life tables for the 1990
Singapore resident population are given in this paper. Analyses were
carried out separately for males and females for all ethnic groups as
well as for Chinese, Malays and Indians." Tabular data are
included on age- and sex-specific death rates and on life expectancy by
sex and ethnic group.
Correspondence: K. C. Lun, National
University Hospital, Department of Community, Occupational and Family
Medicine, Lower Kent Ridge Road, Singapore 0511. Location:
University of Minnesota Library, Minneapolis, MN.
64:10141 Mitra, S. An adjustment
to Brass's logit model of the probabilities of survival.
Demography India, Vol. 26, No. 1, Jan-Jun 1997. 9-18 pp. Delhi, India.
In Eng.
"Brass proposed the logit transformation of the life
table survivorship function in formulating his linear model....Some of
the deficiencies of the model resulting from its failure to meet a
boundary condition [have] been noted in later studies....In this paper,
a theoretical justification has been provided to support the logit
transformation which together with the boundary condition mentioned
before have given rise to important and interesting modification of
Brass's model."
Correspondence: S. Mitra, Emory
University, Department of Sociology, Atlanta, GA 30322. Location:
Princeton University Library (SPR).
64:10142 Mitra, S. Another look
at the logit transformation of the survivorship function. Canadian
Studies in Population, Vol. 23, No. 2, 1996. 147-63 pp. Edmonton,
Canada. In Eng. with sum. in Fre.
"The purpose of this paper
is to show that although a linear relationship (if it is so) between
the logit of 1-l(x) and x guarantees linearity between the logits of
any two life tables, it is by no means a necessary condition....An
attempt will be made...to develop a justification for the logit
transformation of the survivorship function from another perspective.
Thereafter, the mathematical functional form describing its
relationship with age will be derived by taking into account certain
limiting conditions."
Correspondence: S. Mitra, Emory
University, Department of Sociology, Atlanta, GA 30322. Location:
Princeton University Library (SPR).
64:10143 Tallis, G. M.; Leppard, P.
Is length of life predictable? Human Biology, Vol. 69, No. 6,
Dec 1997. 873-86 pp. Detroit, Michigan. In Eng.
"A random
sample of death records of adult males from the period 1967 to 1970 was
chosen from the South Australian Registry of Births, Deaths, and
Marriages....We analyze the association between sons and their parents
in length of life and report the statistically useful correlations that
were found. These correlations enable the calculation of a life table
for a male conditional on his current age and the lifetimes of his
parents. Comparisons are made with the uniformed population life table
based solely on sex and year of birth."
Correspondence:
G. M. Tallis, University of Adelaide, Department of Statistics,
Adelaide, SA 5005, Australia. 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.
64:10144 Barnett, Elizabeth; Armstrong, Donna
L.; Casper, Michele L. Social class and premature
mortality among men: a method for state-based surveillance.
American Journal of Public Health, Vol. 87, No. 9, Sep 1997. 1,521-5
pp. Washington, D.C. In Eng.
"This study examines trends in
mortality by social class for Black and White men aged 35 through 54
years in North Carolina, for 1984 through 1993, using an inexpensive,
newly developed state-based surveillance method....Premature mortality
was inversely associated with social class for both Blacks and Whites.
Blacks were at least twice as likely to die as Whites within each
social class."
Correspondence: E. Barnett, West
Virginia University, Prevention Research Center, P.O. Box 9005, 3847
Health Sciences South, Morgantown, WV 26506-9005. Location:
Princeton University Library (SZ).
64:10145 Bender, Ralf; Trautner, Christoph;
Spraul, Maximillian; Berger, Michael. Assessment of excess
mortality in obesity. American Journal of Epidemiology, Vol. 147,
No. 1, Jan 1, 1998. 42-8 pp. Baltimore, Maryland. In Eng.
The
relationship between obesity and mortality is examined using data on
6,193 obese patients recruited from 1961 to 1994 in Düsseldorf,
Germany. "In addition to age, sex, and BMI [body mass index], Cox
proportional hazards models revealed systolic blood pressure, glucose
intolerance, diabetes, and smoking as significant independent mortality
risk factors, whereas cholesterol was not significant. In this
prospective study of a large cohort of obese persons, morbid
obesity...was a strong predictor of premature death. Excess mortality
risks associated with gross obesity...were considerably lower than
hitherto assumed; moderate degrees of obesity...were not significantly
associated with excess mortality."
Correspondence: M.
Berger, Heinrich Heine University of Düsseldorf, Department of
Metabolic Diseases and Nutrition, P.O. Box 101007, 40001
Düsseldorf, Germany. Location: Princeton University
Library (SZ).
64:10146 Borrell, Carme; Plasència,
Antoni; Pasarin, Isabel; Ortún, Vicente. Widening
social inequalities in mortality: the case of Barcelona, a southern
European city. Journal of Epidemiology and Community Health, Vol.
51, No. 6, Dec 1997. 659-67 pp. London, England. In Eng.
The
authors "analyse trends in mortality inequalities in Barcelona
[Spain] between 1983 and 1994 by comparing rates in [selected]
electoral wards with a low socioeconomic level and rates in the
remaining wards....Rates of premature mortality increased from 5,691.2
years of potential life lost per 100,000 inhabitants aged 1 to 70 years
in 1983 to 7,606.2 in 1994 in the low socioeconomic level wards, and
from 3,731.2 to 4,236.9 in the other wards, showing an increase in
inequalities over the 12 years, mostly due to AIDS and drug overdose as
causes of death. Conversely, cerebrovascular disease showed a reduction
in inequality over the same period. Overall mortality in the 15-44 age
groups widened the gap between both groups of
wards."
Correspondence: C. Borrell, Municipal
Institute of Health, Pl. Lesseps 1, 08023 Barcelona, Spain.
Location: Princeton University Library (SPR).
64:10147 Congdon, P.; Shouls, S.; Curtis,
S. A multi-level perspective on small-area health and
mortality: a case study of England and Wales. International
Journal of Population Geography, Vol. 3, No. 3, Sep 1997. 243-63 pp.
Chichester, England. In Eng.
"This paper considers morbidity
and mortality variations at the small-area level in England and Wales
and their relation to socio-economic factors. Separate affluence and
deprivation effects on illness and mortality are identified from a
single-level analysis, both exceeding the influence of social class,
urbanity or ethnicity. A multi-level perspective is then adopted to
explore ecological associations operating both at micro-area and higher
level spatial scales. Contextual effects (higher level variability in
the impacts of ward level variables) are identified in the effects of
small area deprivation on mortality and illness, as well as cross-level
interactions; thus the impact of small area social structure on health
is partly defined by the wider regional and district
setting."
Correspondence: S. Curtis, Queen Mary and
Westfield College, Department of Geography, Mile End Road, London E1
4NS, England. Location: Princeton University Library (SPR).
64:10148 Courteau, Jean-Pierre; Trempe,
Normand. Variations in mortality by poverty level in urban
Outaouais and all of urban Quebec. [Variations de la
mortalité selon le taux de pauvreté en Outaouais urbain
et dans l'ensemble du Québec urbain.] Cahiers
Québécois de Démographie, Vol. 25, No. 2, Autumn
1996. 211-40 pp. Montreal, Canada. In Fre. with sum. in Eng; Spa.
"This study looks at variations in mortality by poverty level
in the Quebec portion of the Ottawa-Hull census metropolitan area
(urban Outaouais) and in all of Quebec's six major urban areas (CMAs),
using an ecological approach based on census tracts....The findings
show that the gradient of male mortality rates from the wealthiest to
the poorest census tracts is steeper in urban Outaouais than in all of
urban Quebec. Death rates are also higher in census tracts in urban
Outaouais than in tracts of comparable wealth in urban Quebec. In
general, the excess mortality observed in urban Outaouais is consistent
with its relative poverty within the Ottawa-Hull CMA, even though the
average income in this area is higher than the Quebec
average."
Location: Princeton University Library
(SPR).
64:10149 Das Gupta, Monica; Bhat, P. N.
Mari. Fertility decline and increased manifestation of sex
bias in India. Population Studies, Vol. 51, No. 3, Nov 1997.
307-15 pp. London, England. In Eng.
"The net effect of
fertility decline on excess mortality of girls relative to that of boys
in India is influenced by two countervailing forces: the reduction in
the number of higher-parity births which reduces net excess mortality,
and the intensification of parity-specific discrimination, which
increases it. Rising sex ratios of children between 1981 and 1991
indicate that the net effect of these forces was an increase in the
excess mortality of girls during this period. An estimated one million
or more were added to the excess deaths, through sex-selective abortion
or infanticide. For each of these deaths, an estimated four excess
deaths of girls took place after birth during 1981-91, bringing the
total excess mortality resulting from discrimination to almost five per
cent of female live births. The pre-existing regional differences in
sex bias persist, with the Northern States showing a greater increase
in excess mortality, although the pace of fertility decline has been
more rapid in the South."
Correspondence: M. Das
Gupta, Harvard University, Center for Population and Development
Studies, 9 Bow Street, Cambridge, MA 02138. Location:
Princeton University Library (SPR).
64:10150 Davey Smith, George; Frankel,
Stephen; Yarnell, John. Sex and death: are they related?
Findings from the Caerphilly cohort study. British Medical
Journal, Vol. 315, No. 7123, Dec 20-27, 1997. 1,641-4 pp. London,
England. In Eng.
The relationship between sexual activity and
mortality is examined using data on 918 men aged 45-59 in Caerphilly,
Wales, and five adjacent villages, who were followed up over a 10-year
period starting in 1979-1983. The results indicate that "mortality
risk was 50% lower in the group with high orgasmic frequency, with
evidence of a dose-response relation across the groups....Death from
coronary heart disease and from other causes showed similar
associations with frequency of orgasm, although the gradient was most
marked for deaths from coronary heart disease....[The authors conclude
that] sexual activity seems to have a protective effect on men's
health."
Correspondence: G. Davey Smith, University of
Bristol, Department of Social Medicine, Bristol BS8 2PR, England.
E-mail: zetkin@bristol.ac.uk. Location: Princeton University
Library (SZ).
64:10151 Doll, Richard. One for
the heart. British Medical Journal, Vol. 315, No. 7123, Dec 20-27,
1997. 1,664-8 pp. London, England. In Eng.
The literature on the
relationship between alcohol consumption and mortality is reviewed. The
author summarizes the findings of the research on this relationship. He
makes four main points, which are that "the consumption of small
and moderate amounts of alcohol reduced mortality from vascular disease
by about a third; the effect on a person's risk of death depends on the
relative risks of vascular disease and of the causes of death that are
aggravated by alcohol; in middle aged and elderly men in Britain the
beneficial effects on total mortality outweigh the harmful effects up
to at least four units a day, in women up to somewhat less; [and] the
beneficial effect is due to the content of ethanol, not to the
characteristics of any particular type of
drink."
Correspondence: R. Doll, Radcliffe Infirmary,
Clinical Trial Service Unit, Oxford OX2 6HE, England. Location:
Princeton University Library (SZ).
64:10152 Dorling, Daniel. Death
in Britain. How local mortality rates have changed: 1950s-1990s.
ISBN 1-85935-031-3. Jul 1997. 68 pp. Joseph Rowntree Foundation: York,
England. In Eng.
This report "details how people's chances of
dying, or mortality rates, have been changing for a constant set of
local areas [in the United Kingdom] since World War II. Breaking the
population down into age and sex groups, it compares improvement and
deterioration between areas. The study finds that although crude death
rates have fallen for most areas, they have done so slower in some
areas than in others--with the result that there is a growing
divergence between local areas, despite the National Health Service
being set up at the start of this period. The report finds that
inequality has been growing since the early 1960s, and the death rate
for the tenth of the population living in areas with the highest death
rate is higher than that experienced by people living in the best areas
twenty years earlier."
Correspondence: Joseph Rowntree
Foundation, The Homestead, 40 Water End, York YO3 6LP, England.
Location: Princeton University Library (SPR).
64:10153 Dorn, Joan M.; Schisterman, Enrique
F.; Winkelstein, Warren; Trevisan, Maurizio. Body mass
index and mortality in a general population sample of men and women:
the Buffalo Health Study. American Journal of Epidemiology, Vol.
146, No. 11, Dec 1, 1997. 919-31 pp. Baltimore, Maryland. In Eng.
"The objective of this research was to investigate the
long-term relation between body mass index (BMI) and mortality from all
causes and from specific causes in the general population. A 29-year
follow-up study was conducted in a random sample of white men (n=611)
and women (n=697) aged 20-96 years who were residents of Buffalo, New
York, in 1960....During the follow-up period, 295 (48.3 percent) men
and 281 (40.3 percent) women died....A significant linear association
was found between BMI and all-cause mortality in men less than age 65
years at baseline...but not in women....BMI was most strongly related
to cardiovascular disease (CVD) and coronary heart disease mortality in
women and younger men. No such associations were observed in older
men."
Correspondence: J. M. Dorn, State University of
New York, Department of Social and Preventive Medicine, 270 Farber
Hall, 3435 Main Street, Buffalo, NY 14214-3000. Location:
Princeton University Library (SZ).
64:10154 Durazo-Arvizu, Ramón; McGee,
Daniel; Li, Zhaohai; Cooper, Richard. Establishing the
nadir of the body mass index-mortality relationship: a case study.
JASA: Journal of the American Statistical Association, Vol. 92, No.
440, Dec 1997. 1,312-9 pp. Alexandria, Virginia. In Eng.
The
relationship between body weight and mortality is examined using U.S.
data from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey I
(NHANES I) Epidemiologic Follow-up Study concerning 13,242 individuals.
The emphasis is on identifying the body mass index associated with the
lowest levels of mortality. Factors such as smoking status, sex, race,
and age are taken into consideration. The results suggest that only the
interaction between race and body mass index is
significant.
Correspondence: R. Durazo-Arvizu, Mayo Clinic,
Department of Health Sciences Research, 200 First Street SW, Rochester,
MN 55905. Location: Princeton University Library (SM).
64:10155 Faresjö, Tomas; Svärdsudd,
Kurt; Tibblin, Gösta. The concept of status
incongruence revisited: a 22-year follow-up of mortality for
middle-aged men. Scandinavian Journal of Social Medicine, Vol. 25,
No. 1, Mar 1997. 28-32 pp. Oslo, Norway. In Eng.
"The purpose
of this study was to analyse the relationships between status
incongruency and mortality. From the concept of status incongruence two
incongruent groups were defined, those with high education and low
social position (socially downward drifters) and those with low
education and high social position (socially upstarters). A cohort of
middle-aged men (n=855), all born in 1913 and living in the city of
Gothenburg, Sweden, were followed during a period of 22 years. The
socially downward drifters had a significantly increased risk for:
non-cause specific (overall) mortality, more potential years of life
lost and mortality caused by coronary heart disease. These differences
were still evident after taking other risk factors into account. The
socially upstarters had, on the other hand, lower mortality risks and
win years. Imbalance between educational level and attained social
position appears to affect survival in a long term
follow-up."
Correspondence: T. Faresjö,
Linköping University, Department of Family Medicine, 58183
Linköping, Sweden. Location: Columbia University Library,
New York, NY.
64:10156 Fei, Peng; Wanner, Philippe; Cotter,
Stephane. A dynamic approach to the study of differences
in life expectancy by sex in Switzerland from 1910-1911 to 1988-1993.
An application of the decomposition methods developed by Pollard and
Arriaga. [Approche dynamique de la différence
d'espérance de vie entre hommes et femmes en Suisse, entre
1910/11 et 1988/93. Une application des méthodes de
décomposition de Pollard et d'Arriaga.] Schweizerische
Zeitschrift für Volkswirtschaft und Statistik/Revue Suisse
d'Economie Politique et de Statistique/Swiss Journal of Economics and
Statistics, Vol. 133, No. 4, 1997. 741-54 pp. Zurich, Switzerland. In
Fre. with sum. in Eng; Ger.
Reasons for the differences in life
expectancy by sex in Switzerland, which have increased over the course
of the twentieth century, are examined. "The purpose of this study
is to estimate, on the basis of two demographic methods, which ages
contributed to the differences in life expectancy by gender during the
course of the century. While infant mortality explained the majority of
these differences between the genders in 1910/11, this is no longer the
case nowadays. Excess male mortality among members of the working-age
population, and especially in the older age groups, explains both the
differences in average longevity between the sexes and how these
differences develop. Seen from another angle, the causes of death which
contribute most to these gender disparities, ranked in order of
importance, are cancers, violent deaths and ischaemic cardiac
disorders."
Correspondence: P. Wanner, Bundesamt
für Statistik, Section de l'Evolution de la Population,
Schwarztorstrasse 53, 3003 Bern, Switzerland. E-mail:
Philippe.Wanner@bfs.admin.ch. Location: Princeton University
Library (SPR).
64:10157 Fiscella, Kevin; Franks,
Peter. Does psychological distress contribute to racial
and socioeconomic disparities in mortality? Social Science and
Medicine, Vol. 45, No. 12, Dec 1997. 1,805-9 pp. Oxford, England. In
Eng.
Data from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey
I (NHANES I) and the NHANES I Epidemiological Follow-up Survey are used
to test the hypothesis that psychological distress contributes to
racial and socioeconomic differentials in mortality in the United
States. "Both black race and lower family income were associated
with significantly higher psychological distress as measured at the
time of the initial survey by reports of hopelessness, depression, and
life dissatisfaction. Black race and low income in addition to each of
the measures of psychological distress were associated with higher
mortality at follow-up. In a series of Cox proportional hazards models
that controlled for the effects of age and gender, additional
adjustment for hopelessness, depression, or life dissatisfaction had
little effect on the relationship between either African American race
or family income and subsequent all-cause mortality. We conclude that
the effects of both race and income on mortality are largely
independent of psychological distress."
Correspondence:
K. Fiscella, University of Rochester, School of Medicine and
Dentistry, Department of Family Medicine, Family Medicine Center, 885
South Avenue, Rochester, NY 14620-2399. Location: Princeton
University Library (PR).
64:10158 Gjonça, Arjan; Bobak,
Martin. Albanian paradox, another example of protective
effect of Mediterranean lifestyle? Lancet, Vol. 350, No. 9094, Dec
20-27, 1997. 1,815-7 pp. New York, New York/London, England. In Eng.
Data from Albania, which are available from the 1950s to the end of
the 1980s, are used to determine whether a Mediterranean diet that
involves low consumption of total energy, meat, and milk products but
high consumption of fruit, vegetables, and carbohydrates is associated
with high adult life expectancy even in a country with very low income
levels. The results show that, although Albania has one of the highest
infant mortality rates in Europe, adult mortality, including mortality
from cardiovascular diseases, is similar to that in other Mediterranean
countries.
Correspondence: A. Gjonça, London School
of Economics and Political Science, Department of Social Policy and
Administration, Houghton Street, Aldwych, London WC2A 2AE, England.
E-mail: a.gjonca@lse.ac.uk. Location: Princeton University
Library (SZ).
64:10159 Gravelle, Hugh. How much
of the relation between population mortality and unequal distribution
of income is a statistical artefact? British Medical Journal, Vol.
316, No. 7128, Jan 31, 1998. 382-5 pp. London, England. In Eng.
The
extent to which the distribution of income in a society affects an
individual's risk of mortality is examined. The author suggests that
"associations between unequal income distribution and population
health may be a statistical artefact resulting from the use of
aggregate rather than individual data....The spurious or artefactual
correlation at population level between population mortality and income
dispersion will always occur if the effect of individual income on the
individual risk of mortality is smaller at higher incomes than at lower
incomes. This will be so even if there is no underlying relation
between the distribution of income and the risk of mortality at the
level of the individual."
Correspondence: H. Gravelle,
University of York, National Primary Care Research Development Centre,
Heslington, York YO1 5DD, England. E-mail: hg8@york.ac.uk.
Location: Princeton University Library (SZ).
64:10160 Gregorio, David I.; Walsh, Stephen
J.; Paturzo, Deborah. The effects of occupation-based
social position on mortality in a large American cohort. American
Journal of Public Health, Vol. 87, No. 9, Sep 1997. 1,472-5 pp.
Washington, D.C. In Eng.
"Four occupation-based measures were
used to derive estimates of social position's effect on all-cause
mortality among men and women in a large [U.S.] cohort....Risk of death
was consistently elevated among persons at lower positions in the
social hierarchy. Estimates comparing lowest with highest categories
varied within a narrow range....Our analysis complements previous
finding and supports, with few qualifications, the interchangeability
of occupation-based measures of social position in mortality studies.
Explanations for why relative risk estimates were modified by sex are
offered."
Correspondence: D. I. Gregorio, University
of Connecticut School of Medicine, Department of Community Medicine and
Health Care, Farmington, CT 06030-1910. Location: Princeton
University Library (SZ).
64:10161 Hahn, Robert A.; Eaker, Elaine D.;
Barker, Nancy D.; Teutsch, Steven M.; Sosniak, Waldemar A.; Krieger,
Nancy. Poverty and death in the United States.
International Journal of Health Services, Vol. 26, No. 4, 1996. 673-90
pp. Amityville, New York. In Eng.
"The authors conducted a
survival analysis to determine the effect of poverty on mortality in a
national [U.S.] sample of blacks and whites, 25 to 74 years of
age....We first assessed the overall association of poverty and
mortality and determined whether this association differed by age,
black and white race/ethnicity, and gender. On the basis of these
factors, we estimated the proportion of U.S. mortality attributable to
poverty among black and white men and women during the 1971-1984 study
period and in 1991. Finally, to determine the characteristics of
poverty that contribute to its effect, we assessed behavioral and
physical risk factors that might either confound the association of
poverty and mortality or result from poverty and lead to
mortality."
Correspondence: R. A. Hahn, Centers for
Disease Control and Prevention, Epidemiology Program Office D-01,
Statistics and Epidemiology Branch, Atlanta, GA 30333. Location:
Princeton University Library (SPR).
64:10162 Hogg, Robert S.
Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal mortality in rural Australia.
Human Organization, Vol. 54, No. 2, 1995. 214-21 pp. Oklahoma City,
Oklahoma. In Eng.
"This article evaluates how Aboriginal and
non-Aboriginal mortality patterns differ at a community level. Relying
on data from two communities in western New South Wales, the author
examines differences in Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal mortality regimes
over a recent 10-year period. Results from this analysis clearly show
that Aborigines have appallingly high rates of death and that this
pattern of Aboriginal mortality is an anomaly that does not adhere
closely with classical epidemiologic transition theory. Potential
reasons for existence of such a unique pattern of mortality are
discussed."
Correspondence: R. S. Hogg, British
Columbia Centre for Excellence in HIV/AIDS, 613-1081 Burrard Street,
Vancouver, British Columbia V6Z 1Y6, Canada. Location:
Princeton University Library (PR).
64:10163 James, William H. The
validity of inferences of sex-selective infanticide, abortion and
neglect from unusual reported sex ratios at birth. European
Journal of Population/Revue Européenne de Démographie,
Vol. 13, No. 2, Jun 1997. 213-7 pp. Dordrecht, Netherlands. In Eng.
The author suggests that "it is impossible to infer
present-day sex-related infanticide or induced abortion from present
unanalysed reported birth sex ratios in any society. This is so because
present sex ratios at birth are almost certainly dependent on past sex
prejudice--and that is unquantifiable." The primary geographical
focus of the study is on China, India, and South Korea. The author also
suggests that "an analogous argument in respect of `missing boys'
in Zambia is spurious."
Correspondence: W. H. James,
University College London, Galton Laboratory, Wolfson House, 4
Stephenson Way, London NW1 2HE, England. Location: Princeton
University Library (SPR).
64:10164 Kawachi, Ichiro; Kennedy, Bruce P.;
Lochner, Kimberly; Prothrow-Stith, Deborah. Social
capital, income inequality, and mortality. American Journal of
Public Health, Vol. 87, No. 9, Sep 1997. 1,491-8 pp. Washington, D.C.
In Eng.
"Recent studies have demonstrated that income
inequality is related to mortality rates. It was hypothesized, in this
study, that income inequality is related to reduction in social
cohesion and that disinvestment in social capital is in turn associated
with increased mortality [in the United States]....Income inequality
was strongly correlated with both per capita group membership...and
lack of social trust....In turn, both social trust and group membership
were associated with total mortality, as well as rates of death from
coronary heart disease, malignant neoplasms, and infant
mortality."
Correspondence: I. Kawachi, Harvard School
of Public Health, Department of Health and Social Behavior, 677
Huntington Avenue, Boston, MA 02115. Location: Princeton
University Library (SZ).
64:10165 McDonough, Peggy; Duncan, Greg J.;
Williams, David; House, James. Income dynamics and adult
mortality in the United States, 1972 through 1989. American
Journal of Public Health, Vol. 87, No. 9, Sep 1997. 1,476-83 pp.
Washington, D.C. In Eng.
"The aim of this study was to examine
relationships between income and mortality [in the United States],
focusing on the predictive utility of single-year and multiyear
measures of income, the shape of the income gradient in mortality,
trends in this gradient over time, the impact of income change on
mortality, and the joint effects of income and age, race, and sex on
mortality risk....Income level was a strong predictor of mortality,
especially for persons under the age of 65 years. Persistent low income
was particularly consequential for mortality. Income instability was
also important among middle-income individuals. Single-year and
multiyear income measures had comparable predictive power. All effects
persisted after adjustment for education and initial health
status."
Correspondence: P. McDonough, York
University, Department of Sociology, 4700 Keele Street, North York,
Ontario M3J 1P3, Canada. Location: Princeton University
Library (SZ).
64:10166 Partridge, Linda.
Evolutionary biology and age-related mortality. In: Between
Zeus and the salmon: the biodemography of longevity, edited by Kenneth
W. Wachter and Caleb E. Finch. 1997. 78-95 pp. National Academy Press:
Washington, D.C. In Eng.
"Analysis and interpretation of
age-specific death rates are of considerable interest to both
biodemographers and evolutionary biologists. Of special concern to both
groups is the age-related decline in survival probability later in
life, characteristic of many organisms including humans. This decline
is generally taken to be indicative of a decline in intrinsic state,
known as aging or senescence. The exact form of the survival curve
differs considerably among human populations living in different areas
and at different times...and we want to understand these differences
and to produce a predictive theory of how mortality rates would change
with age in different environments and behave in populations of
different composition. Such a theory would be especially useful if it
could also help predict patterns of age-related morbidity and cause of
death....The following sections briefly summarize [the main
determinants of age-specific death rates and their interaction with
each other] and point to some areas where further work could be
profitable. In addition, the broader implications of evolutionary ideas
for the aging process are discussed."
Correspondence:
L. Partridge, University College London, Gower Street, London WC1E
6BT, England. Location: Princeton University Library (SPR).
64:10167 Stevens, June; Cai, Jianwen; Pamuk,
Elsie R.; Williamson, David F.; Thun, Michael J.; Wood, Joy L.
The effect of age on the association between body-mass index and
mortality. New England Journal of Medicine, Vol. 338, No. 1, Jan
1, 1998. 1-7 pp. Boston, Massachusetts. In Eng.
The effect of age
on the relationship between weight and mortality is examined using data
from the American Cancer Society's Cancer Prevention Study on 62,116
men and 262,019 women for the period 1960-1972. The results suggest
that "excess body weight increases the risk of death from any
cause and from cardiovascular disease in adults between 30 and 74 years
of age. The relative risk associated with greater body weight is higher
among younger subjects."
Correspondence: J. Stevens,
University of North Carolina, Departments of Nutrition and
Epidemiology, CB 7400, Chapel Hill, NC 27599-7400. Location:
Princeton University Library (SZ).
64:10168 Sundquist, Jan; Johansson,
Sven-Erik. Indicators of socio-economic position and their
relation to mortality in Sweden. Social Science and Medicine, Vol.
45, No. 12, Dec 1997. 1,757-66 pp. Oxford, England. In Eng.
"This paper estimates the effects on mortality of some
indicators of socio-economic position such as employment status (SEI),
education and housing tenure. The data from 32,853 persons aged 25-64
were collected from seven independent samples of the Swedish population
in 1979-1985. The study was designed as a longitudinal follow-up study
ranging from day of interview to December 1993....The data were
analysed by a proportional hazard model. Being a low educated female or
renting a flat was associated with increased mortality when tested
simultaneously for all independent variables. The excess mortality
among unskilled persons and skilled labourers/lower level employees
(males) disappeared in successive models when one variable at a time
was included in the main models. Sickness pension for males and
females, long-term unemployment for males, and ethnicity were also
related to increased mortality."
Correspondence: J.
Sundquist, University of Lund, Department of Community Health Sciences
Dalby/Lund, 221 00 Lund, Sweden. Location: Princeton
University Library (PR).
64:10169 Thun, Michael J.; Peto, Richard;
Lopez, Alan D.; Monaco, Jane H.; Henley, S. Jane; Heath, Clark W.;
Doll, Richard. Alcohol consumption and mortality among
middle-aged and elderly U.S. adults. New England Journal of
Medicine, Vol. 337, No. 24, Dec 11, 1997. 1,705-14 pp. Boston,
Massachusetts. In Eng.
"We calculated death rates according to
self-reported alcohol consumption in half a million U.S. adults 30
years old or older who provided information on alcohol consumption,
smoking, and other behavior in 1982 and who were followed prospectively
through 1991. We had three aims: to quantify the relation between
drinking at base line and specific causes of death thought to be
increased or decreased by the consumption of alcohol, while controlling
for smoking; to determine how age, sex, and background risk of
cardiovascular disease modify the relation of drinking to total
mortality; and to compare alcohol and cigarette smoking as risk factors
for death in middle age." The authors conclude that "in this
middle-aged and elderly population, moderate alcohol consumption
slightly reduced overall mortality. The benefit depended in part on age
and background cardiovascular risk and was far smaller than the large
increase in risk produced by tobacco."
Correspondence:
M. J. Thun, American Cancer Society, Epidemiology and Surveillance
Research, 1599 Clifton Road NE, Atlanta, GA 30329-4251. Location:
Princeton University Library (SZ).
64:10170 Trovato, Frank; Lalu, N. M.
Causes of death responsible for the changing sex differential in
life expectancy between 1970 and 1990 in thirty industrialized
nations. Canadian Studies in Population, Vol. 23, No. 2, 1996.
99-126 pp. Edmonton, Canada. In Eng. with sum. in Fre.
"We
execute a decomposition analysis of sex differences in life expectancy
at birth for thirty [developed] nations between 1970 and 1990. Our
results indicate that although there are substantial variations by
country with respect to magnitude of cause contribution, the most
important cause-of-death components contributing to sex differences in
overall survival between 1970 and 1990 are heart disease (largest
effect), accidents and violence excluding suicide, and lung cancer. In
countries where there has been a narrowing of the sex gap, in
comparison to women, men have tended to make larger improvements over
time....In the closing section of this study we discuss what the future
might hold for the sex differential in life expectancy in the
industrialized world."
This is a revised version of a paper
originally presented at the 1996 Annual Meeting of the Population
Association of America.
Correspondence: F. Trovato,
University of Alberta, Edmonton, Alberta T6G 2H4, Canada. Location:
Princeton University Library (SPR).
64:10171 Voges, W. Unequal
requirements for longevity--social determinants of mortality in
longitudinal perspective. [Ungleiche Voraussetzungen für
Langlebigkeit--Bestimmungsgründe für Mortalität im
zeitlichen Verlauf.] Zeitschrift für Gerontologie und Geriatrie,
Vol. 29, No. 1, 1996. 18-22 pp. Berlin, Germany. In Ger. with sum. in
Eng.
"Longitudinal data of the German Socioeconomic Panel
(GSOEP) offer new possibilities to identify the determinants for
longevity, [or] mortality risk. A panel probit model shows that beyond
the cohort effects, a low income...and a low educational level are
determinants which increase the mortality risk dramatically. Widowhood
and small family size also [increase] mortality for men, while [a]
marital status of single (unmarried, separated, divorced) has [a]
shortening effect on a woman's life expectancy. Reduced societal
participation creates conditions which increase the mortality
risk."
Correspondence: W. Voges, Universität
Bremen, Zentrum für Sozialpolitik, Parkallee 39, 28209 Bremen,
Germany. E-mail: wvoges@zes.uni-bremen.de. Location: Princeton
University Library (SPR).
64:10172 Voges, Wolfgang; Schmidt,
Christian. Situations that cost lives--on the relations
over time among socioeconomic status, chronic illness, and
mortality. [Lebenslagen, die Lebenszeit kosten--zum Zusammenhang
von sozialer Lage, chronischer Erkrankung und Mortalität im
zeitlichen Verlauf.] In: Lebenslagen im Wandel: Sozialberichterstattung
im Längsschnitt, edited by Wolfgang Zapf, Jürgen Schupp, and
Roland Habich. 1996. 379-401 pp. Campus Verlag: New York, New
York/Frankfurt, Germany. In Ger.
On the basis of data from the
German Socio-Economic Panel study (SOEP) for 1984-1993, this article
aims to analyze mortality risk or chance of survival along the two
five-year intervals 1983-1988 and 1988-1993 in connection with income
and family status indicators. Factors such as age, sex, and the
existence of chronic health problems are held constant to avoid
creating a false correlation between life situation and mortality.
After a brief review of selected literature on the subject, there is a
section describing the data and variables, and then a section
presenting the results. For both time intervals, low household income
was significantly correlated with increased mortality risk; the
correlation had become more acute in the later
interval.
Location: Princeton University Library (SPR).
64:10173 Yu, Mei-Yu; Sarri, Rosemary.
Women's health status and gender inequality in China. Social
Science and Medicine, Vol. 45, No. 12, Dec 1997. 1,885-98 pp. Oxford,
England. In Eng.
"This paper examines the health status of
women in China by reviewing levels and trends of female mortality at
several phases of a women's life cycle focusing on infancy, girlhood,
childbearing and old age. The mortality rates of Chinese women and men
are compared for the period 1950-1990 as are comparisons with women in
selected countries. The cause-specific death rate, expressed as a
percentage of all deaths, and the burden of disease, measured in terms
of the disability-adjusted life years (DALYs), are used to reflect the
changing patterns of female diseases and causes of deaths. Significant
improvement in the health status of Chinese women since 1950 is widely
acknowledged as a major achievement for a developing country with the
largest population in the world, but the differentials in women's
health by region and urban/rural areas are
considerable."
Correspondence: M.-Y. Yu, University of
Michigan, School of Nursing, Center for Nursing Research, Room 3248,
400 N. Ingalls, Ann Arbor, MI 48109-0482. Location: Princeton
University Library (PR).
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.
64:10174 Akalin, Murat Z.; Maine, Deborah; de
Francisco, Andres; Vaughan, Roger. Why perinatal mortality
cannot be a proxy for maternal mortality. Studies in Family
Planning, Vol. 28, No. 4, Dec 1997. 330-5 pp. New York, New York. In
Eng.
"In recent years, the perinatal mortality rate (PNMR) has
been proposed as a proxy measure of maternal mortality, because
perinatal deaths are more frequent and potentially more easily
measured. This report assesses evidence for an association between
these two statistics. This study, based upon data from Matlab,
Bangladesh, shows that the maternal mortality ratio (MMR) and the PNMR
do not vary together over time, and that the PNMR does not reliably
indicate either the magnitude or the direction of change in the MMR
from year to year....An examination of the major causes of maternal and
perinatal deaths indicates that the two measures cannot be expected to
vary together."
Correspondence: M. Z. Akalin, 19
Sunset Street, Roxbury, MA 02120. Location: Princeton
University Library (SPR).
64:10175 Anker, Martha. The
effect of misclassification error on reported cause-specific mortality
fractions from verbal autopsy. International Journal of
Epidemiology, Vol. 27, No. 5, Oct 1997. 1,090-6 pp. Oxford, England. In
Eng.
"This paper explores the effects of misclassification
errors on the results of verbal autopsy [VA] studies, and recommends
ways to take misclassification errors into account in the
interpretation of results....There can be substantial errors in the
estimates of the cause-specific mortality fraction derived from VA
studies. The cause-specific mortality fraction itself has an important
influence on the size of the error for given levels of sensitivity and
specificity, and when the cause-specific mortality fraction is small,
the size of the error depends more on specificity than on
sensitivity."
Correspondence: M. Anker, World Health
Organization, Division of Emerging and Other Communicable Diseases
Surveillance and Control, 20 Avenue Appia, 1211 Geneva 27, Switzerland.
Location: Princeton University Library (SPR).
64:10176 Bah, Sulaiman M.
Modelling the relationship between cause-of-death structure and
overall mortality: the case of Mauritius. Journal of Population
Studies, No. 18, Jun 1997. 99-114 pp. Taipei, Taiwan. In Eng. with sum.
in Chi.
"This paper aims to model the relationship between
cause-of-death structure and overall mortality in the Island of
Mauritius [for the period 1969-1986]....During this period, Mauritian
mortality for both males and females underwent a transition from
predominance of infectious diseases to that of degenerative
diseases....The paper concludes that in the indirect estimation of
cause-of-death structure, information on overall mortality alone will
not suffice; supplementary information on the epidemiologic transition
is needed especially where the mortality pattern is undergoing a rapid
change."
Correspondence: S. M. Bah, University of
Western Ontario, Department of Sociology, Population Studies Centre,
London, Ontario N6A 5C2, Canada. Location: Princeton
University Library (SPR).
64:10177 Castilla, Jesús;
Martínez de Aragón, M. Victoria; Gutiérrez,
Angeles; Llácer, Alicia; Belza, M. José; Ruiz, Cristina;
Pérez de la Paz, Julio; Noguer, Isabel. Impact of
human immunodeficiency virus infection on mortality among young men and
women in Spain. International Journal of Epidemiology, Vol. 26,
No. 6, Dec 1997. 1,346-51 pp. Oxford, England. In Eng.
"This
paper describes the impact of human immunodeficiency virus
(HIV)/acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS) mortality among young
adults in Spain with specific reference to other causes of death....In
1993, HIV/AIDS was the leading cause of death among men aged 25-44
years (21.8% of all deaths) and the second leading cause of death among
women (14.9%), exceeded only by cancer. Since 1982, the trend in the
overall standardized mortality rate for men in the 25-44 age group has
been reversed, showing a progressive increase. Similarly, since 1984
there has been a halt in the decline in female mortality. For both
sexes, maintenance of these trends in mortality was largely ascribable
to the effect of HIV/AIDS deaths which registered a marked rise, a rise
far sharper than that witnessed for variations in all other causes
studied."
Correspondence: J. Castilla, Centro Nacional
de Epidemiología, Sinesio Delgado 6, 28029 Madrid, Spain.
Location: Princeton University Library (SPR).
64:10178 Donaldson, G. C.; Tchernjavskii, V.
E.; Ermakov, S. P.; Bucher, K.; Keatinge, W. R. Winter
mortality and cold stress in Yekaterinburg, Russia: interview
survey. British Medical Journal, Vol. 316, No. 7130, Feb 14, 1998.
514-8 pp. London, England. In Eng.
The aim of this study is to
evaluate the changes in mortality and protective measures against cold
in response to cold temperatures. The authors conducted an interview
survey on 1,000 residents of Sverdlovsk Oblast in Russia to determine
the amount of clothing worn, the temperature of their living quarters,
and the amount of shivering in response to cold. Outdoor cold stress
and mortality increased only when the mean daily temperature dropped
below 0 degrees Celsius; at higher temperatures, residents were able to
compensate for the cold by increasing their clothing and physical
activity and maintaining warm houses.
Correspondence: W. R.
Keatinge, Russian Ministry of Health, 11 Dobrolubova Steet, Moscow
127254, Russia. E-mail: w.r.keatinge@qmw.ac.uk. Location:
Princeton University Library (SZ).
64:10179 Donaldson, Gavin C.; Keatinge,
William R. Early increases in ischaemic heart disease
mortality dissociated from and later changes associated with
respiratory mortality after cold weather in south east England.
Journal of Epidemiology and Community Health, Vol. 51, No. 6, Dec 1997.
643-8 pp. London, England. In Eng.
The authors aim to
"identify the time courses and magnitude of ischaemic heart (IHD),
respiratory (RES), and all cause mortality associated with common 20-30
day patterns of cold weather in order to assess links between cold
exposure and mortality...[using data for the] population of south east
England, including London, over 50 years of age from 1976-92....Twenty
to 30 day patterns of cold weather below 15 [degrees] C were followed:
(1) rapidly by IHD deaths, consistent with known trombogenic and reflex
consequences of personal cold exposure; and (2) by delayed increases in
RES and associated IHD deaths in the range 0 to 15 [degrees] C, which
were reversed for a few degrees below 0 [degrees] C, and were probably
multifactorial in cause. These patterns provide evidence that personal
exposure to cold has a large role in the excess mortality of
winter."
Correspondence: W. R. Keatinge, University of
London, Queen Mary and Westfield College, Department of Physiology,
Mile End Road, London E1 4NS, England. Location: Princeton
University Library (SPR).
64:10180 Farmer, R. D. T.; Newson, R. B.;
MacRae, K.; Lawrenson, R. A.; Tyrer, F. Mortality from
venous thromboembolism among young women in Europe: no evidence for any
effect of third generation oral contraceptives. Journal of
Epidemiology and Community Health, Vol. 51, No. 6, Dec 1997. 630-42 pp.
London, England. In Eng.
The authors "investigate whether
there has been an increase of venous thromboembolism (VTE) mortality in
European countries, concurrent with the replacement of second
generation by third generation combined oral contraceptives
(COCs)....Data were collected on population and annual VTE mortality in
women 15-34 and 35-49 years old, and on second and third generation COC
sales, from 1981 to 1994 in 13 European countries....Mortality
differences of the size expected from...published studies cannot be
measured using annual national VTE mortality and COC sales data alone,
because of residual interannual variation in VTE mortality, and
possibly confounding between rising third generation market share and
total COC use."
Correspondence: R. B. Newson,
University of London, Chelsea and Westminster Hospital, 369 Fulham
Road, London SW10 9NH, England. Location: Princeton University
Library (SPR).
64:10181 Gaudette, Leslie A.; Silberberger,
Carol; Altmayer, Chris A.; Gao, Ru-Nie. Trends in breast
cancer incidence and mortality. [Tendances de l'incidence du
cancer du sein et de la mortalité par ce cancer.] Health
Reports/Rapports sur la Santé, Vol. 8, No. 2, Autumn 1996.
29-37; 31-40 pp. Ottawa, Canada. In Eng; Fre.
The authors present
data on breast cancer trends in Canada. "Canadian incidence rates
have increased slowly and steadily since 1969, rising most rapidly
among women aged 50 and over. Canada's rates are among the highest of
any country in the world, ranking second only to those in the United
States. After decades of little change, breast cancer mortality rates
for all ages combined have declined slightly since 1990. While not
dramatic, this decline is statistically significant and is consistent
with similar decreases in the United Kingdom, the United States, and
Australia. Breast cancer survival rates are relatively more favourable
than those of other forms of cancer. Survival rates are better for
younger women and for women whose cancer was detected at an early
stage."
Correspondence: L. A. Gaudette, Statistics
Canada, Division of Health Statistics, Ottawa, Ontario K1A 0T6, Canada.
Location: Princeton University Library (SPR).
64:10182 Gissler, Mika; Kauppila, Riitta;
Meriläinen, Jouni; Toukomaa, Henri; Hemminki, Elina.
Pregnancy-associated deaths in Finland 1987-1994--definition
problems and benefits of record linkage. Acta Obstetricia et
Gynecologica Scandinavica, Vol. 76, No. 7, 1997. 651-7 pp. Copenhagen,
Denmark. In Eng.
"This study had two purposes. First, our aim
was to study how completely maternal deaths were recorded in Finland
between 1987-1994 by using record linkage of national registers to
identify all deaths occurring within a year of a completed pregnancy
without a priori definition of the case as a maternal death or not. The
second aim was to study the impact of different classification
principles on the maternal mortality rate." Results indicate that
"the mortality rate was 41 per 100,000 registered ended
pregnancies (27 for births, 48 for miscarriages or ectopic pregnancies,
and 101 for abortions)....The classification of other than direct
maternal deaths was ambiguous, especially in case of late cancers,
cardio- and cerebrovascular diseases, and early
suicides."
Correspondence: M. Gissler, National
Research and Development Centre for Welfare and Health, Siltasaarenkatu
18, P.O. Box 220, 00531 Helsinki, Finland. E-mail:
mika.gissler@stakes.fi. Location: Princeton University Library
(SPR).
64:10183 Guallar Castillón, Pilar;
Rodríguez Artalejo, Fernando; Banegas Banegas, José R.;
Guallar, Eliseo; del Rey Calero, Juan. Cerebrovascular
disease mortality in Spain, 1955-1992: an age-period-cohort
analysis. Neuroepidemiology, Vol. 16, No. 3, 1997. 116-23 pp.
Basel, Switzerland. In Eng.
"The purpose of this study was to
assess the contributions of period and birth cohort effects to changes
in cerebrovascular disease (CVD) mortality in Spain over the period
1955-1992....In the period 1955-1975, CVD mortality remained stable. In
the period 1975-1992, CVD mortality declined by 54%...in males and
62%...in females. The cohort effect was very small up to the generation
born in 1905, moving clearly downward thereafter....Among the possible
partial explanations for these effects are the decline in ischemic
heart disease and rheumatic fever mortality, the drop in salt and
alcohol intake, the reduction in smoking among males and blood pressure
among females, and the widespread use of antihypertensive treatments in
Spain over the last 20 years."
Correspondence: F.
Rodríguez Artalejo, Universidad del País Vasco,
Departamento de Medicina Preventiva y Salud Pública,
Plaça de la Universidad 7, 01006 Vitoria-Gasteiz, Spain.
Location: Princeton University Library (SPR).
64:10184 Howard, George; Anderson, Roger;
Johnson, Norman J.; Sorlie, Paul; Russell, Gregory; Howard, Virginia
J. Evaluation of social status as a contributing factor to
the stroke belt region of the United States. Stroke, Vol. 28, No.
5, May 1997. 936-40 pp. Dallas, Texas. In Eng.
"The
southeastern United States has stroke mortality rates above the
national average. The causes of this excess mortality are unknown;
however, lower socioeconomic status (SES) is a risk factor for stroke,
and the lower SES in the Southeast is a potential cause. In this report
we assess the proportion of the excess stroke mortality attributable to
SES....A secondary goal of the study is to document the relative stroke
risk in the 153-county region we have defined as the stroke belt and
compare the results to a more commonly used definition that encompasses
at least eight states." Results indicate that "SES does not
appear to be a major contributor to the excess mortality in the
southeastern United States."
Correspondence: G.
Howard, Bowman Gray School of Medicine, Department of Public Health
Science, Medical Center Boulevard, Winston-Salem, NC 27157-1063.
E-mail: ghoward@phs.bgsm.edu. Location: Princeton University
Library (SPR).
64:10185 Jacobsen, Bjarne K.; Nilssen,
Steinar; Heuch, Ivar; Kvåle, Gunnar. Does age at
natural menopause affect mortality from ischemic heart disease?
Journal of Clinical Epidemiology, Vol. 50, No. 4, 1997. 475-9 pp. New
York, New York. In Eng.
"We examined the relationship between
age at natural menopause and mortality of ischemic heart disease in
19,309 Norwegian postmenopausal women. A total of 2,767 fatal
infarctions occurred during 29 years of follow up....In summary, the
results...indicate an adverse effect of an early menopause on ischemic
heart disease mortality, at least in women aged <70 years. This
supports the hypothesis that a natural deficit of estrogen promotes
atherosclerosis. The effect of early menopause fades away, however,
with advancing age and is of minor significance in age groups where the
majority of the deaths due to ischemic heart disease
occur."
Correspondence: B. K. Jacobsen, University of
Tromsø, Institute of Community Medicine, 9037 Tromsø,
Norway. Location: Princeton University Library (SPR).
64:10186 Kaufman, J. S.; Asuzu, M. C.; Rotimi,
C. N.; Johnson, O. O.; Owoaje, E. E.; Cooper, R. S. The
absence of adult mortality data for Sub-Saharan Africa: a practical
solution. Bulletin of the World Health Organization/Bulletin de
l'Organisation Mondiale de la Santé, Vol. 75, No. 5, 1997.
389-95 pp. Geneva, Switzerland. In Eng. with sum. in Fre.
"Information on cause of death among adults in sub-Saharan
Africa is essentially nonexistent....In the absence of accurate and
comprehensive registries of vital events for the majority of the
region's inhabitants, longitudinal studies of defined population-based
cohorts represent the only realistic strategy to fill this void in
basic public health information....Verbal autopsy has great potential
to contribute to understanding about the cause of death among African
adults. This method is discussed in the present article, and practical
considerations for longitudinal studies using this methodology are
reviewed."
Correspondence: J. S. Kaufman, Loyola
University Medical Center, Department of Preventive Medicine and
Epidemiology, 2160 South First Avenue, Maywood, IL 60153. Location:
Princeton University Library (SPR).
64:10187 Lopez, Alan D. Mortality
from tobacco in the New Independent States. In: Premature death in
the New Independent States, edited by José L. Bobadilla,
Christine A. Costello, and Faith Mitchell. 1997. 262-74 pp. National
Academy Press: Washington, D.C. In Eng.
The author investigates
mortality due to tobacco use in the New Independent States (NIS) of the
former Soviet Union. "Results...indicate that smoking as a cause
of cancer is still relatively uncommon among women of the NIS (less
than 5 percent of cancer deaths). However, it is a major cause of
cancer among men in most of these states, accounting in many states for
about one in two cancer deaths...and one in four deaths
overall."
Correspondence: A. D. Lopez, World Health
Organization, Programme on Substance Abuse, 1211 Geneva 27,
Switzerland. Location: Princeton University Library (SPR).
64:10188 López, María V.;
Híjar Medina, Martha C.; Rascón Pacheco, Ramón A.;
Muñoz, Julia B. Mortality by homicide, the fatal
consequences of violence. The case of Mexico, 1979-1992. [Muertes
por homicidio, consecuencia fatal de la violencia. El caso de
México, 1979-1992.] Revista de Saúde
Pública/Journal of Public Health, Vol. 30, No. 1, 1996. 46-52
pp. São Paulo, Brazil. In Spa. with sum. in Eng.
"A
study of homicide in the population of Mexico was undertaken for the
purpose of discovering the mortality panorama by this cause during
1979-1992. Homicide mortality trends were analyzed, as well as the main
causes by age and sex....Each day 35 persons die in Mexico as a result
of homicide. Men were more affected than women....The main cause (56%)
was homicide by firearms and explosives. The high relative risk was for
those aged from 35 to 39...."
Correspondence: M. V.
López, Instituto Nacional de Salud Pública, Escuela de
Salud Pública de México, Avenida Universidad 655, Col.
Santa María Ahuacatilán 62508, Cuernavaca, Morelos,
Mexico. Location: Princeton University Library (SPR).
64:10189 Maude, Gillian H.; Ross, David
A. The effect of different sensitivity, specificity and
cause-specific mortality fractions on the estimation of differences in
cause-specific mortality rates in children from studies using verbal
autopsies. International Journal of Epidemiology, Vol. 27, No. 5,
Oct 1997. 1,097-106 pp. Oxford, England. In Eng.
"Verbal
autopsies (VA) are increasingly being used in developing countries to
determine causes of death, but little attention is generally given to
the misclassification effects of the VA. This paper considers the
effect of misclassification on the estimation of differences in
cause-specific mortality rates between two populations....[Results
indicate that] the bias is more extreme as both sensitivity and
specificity fall, and is particularly affected even by a small loss of
specificity. The bias also increases as the proportion of all deaths
due to the cause of interest decreases, and is affected by the size of
the true change in mortality due to the cause of interest relative to
the change in mortality from other causes."
Correspondence:
G. H. Maude, London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine,
Tropical Health Epidemiology Unit, Keppel Street, London WC1E 7HT,
England. Location: Princeton University Library (SPR).
64:10190 McLaughlin, John R.; Fields, Anthony
L. A.; Gentleman, Jane F.; Levy, Isra; Whylie, Barbara; Whittaker,
Heather; Riley, Rod; Lee, Judy; Coombs, B. Ann; Guadette, Leslie
A. Cancer incidence and mortality, 1997. [Incidence
du cancer et mortalité due au cancer, 1997.] Health
Reports/Rapports sur la Santé, Vol. 8, No. 4, Spring 1997.
41-51; 43-54 pp. Ottawa, Canada. In Eng; Fre.
The authors present
information on trends in cancer incidence and mortality in Canada since
the mid-1980s. "In 1997, there will be an estimated 130,800 new
cases of cancer and 60,700 deaths from the disease, an increase of one
third and one quarter, respectively, over 1987. These increases are due
mainly to the growth and aging of the population....In 1997, three
types of cancer will account for at least half of all new cases in men
and women: prostate, lung and colorectal cancer for men; breast, lung
and colorectal cancer for women....Among women, overall trends in
age-standardized rates of cancer incidence and mortality have remained
relatively stable since 1985, as large increases in the rate of lung
cancer have been offset by declining or stable rates for most other
forms. Among men, the overall incidence rate is rising slightly as a
result of the sharp increase in the incidence of prostate cancer. The
mortality rate for men peaked in 1988 and has since declined, because
of decreases in the rates for lung, colorectal and some other
cancers."
Correspondence: J. R. McLaughlin, University
of Toronto, Department of Preventive Medicine and Biostatistics,
Toronto, Ontario M52 1A1, Canada. Location: Princeton
University Library (SPR).
64:10191 Northridge, M. E.; Morabia, A.; Ganz,
M. L.; Bassett, M. T.; Gemson, D.; Andrews, H.; McCord, C.
Contribution of smoking to excess mortality in Harlem.
American Journal of Epidemiology, Vol. 147, No. 3, Feb 1, 1998. 250-8
pp. Baltimore, Maryland. In Eng.
"The aim of this research was
to examine self-reported smoking habits according to measures of
socioeconomic status among Harlem men and women, in order to estimate
the contribution of tobacco consumption to Harlem's remarkably high
excess mortality. During 1992-1994, in-person interviews were conducted
among 695 Harlem adults aged 18-65 years who were randomly selected
from dwelling unit enumeration lists. The self-reported prevalence of
current smoking was strikingly high among both men (48%) and women
(41%), even among highly educated men (38%). The 21% of respondents
without working telephones reported an even higher prevalence of
current smoking (61%), indicating that national and state-based
estimates which rely on telephone surveys may seriously underestimate
the prevalence of smoking in poor urban communities. Among persons aged
35-64 years, the smoking attributable fractions for selected causes of
death were larger in Harlem than in either New York City as a whole or
the entire United States for both men and
women."
Correspondence: M. E. Northridge, Columbia
School of Public Health, Harlem Hospital Center, Harlem Center for
Health Promotion and Disease Prevention, New York, NY. Location:
Princeton University Library (SZ).
64:10192 Prescott, Eva; Osler, Merete;
Andersen, Per K.; Bjerg, Anders; Hein, Hans O.; Borch-Johnsen, Knut;
Lange, Peter; Schnohr, Peter; Vestbo, Jørgen. Has
risk associated with smoking increased? Results from the Copenhagen
Center for Prospective Population Studies. International Journal
of Epidemiology, Vol. 26, No. 6, Dec 1997. 1,214-8 pp. Oxford, England.
In Eng.
"In this study we wish to determine whether excess
all-cause mortality associated with smoking has increased during the
last 20-30 years in a study population representative of the general
Danish population and whether any such changes relate to changes in
smoking behaviour....Male smokers' exposure did not change during the
study period whereas female smokers' exposure to tobacco increased in
terms of age at smoking onset, quantity smoked and depth of inhalation.
During follow-up 5,744 males and 2,900 females died. In males, death
rate ratios (comparing continuous smokers with never-smokers) did not
change in the study period. In females, ratios increased from 1964-1978
to 1979-1994 by a factor of 1.3...."
Correspondence:
E. Prescott, Copenhagen Hospital Corporation, Institute of
Preventive Medicine, Kommunehospitalet, 1399 Copenhagen K, Denmark.
Location: Princeton University Library (SPR).
64:10193 Pritchard, C.; Evans, B.
Population density and cancer mortality by gender and age in
England and Wales and the Western world 1963-93. Public Health,
Vol. 111, No. 4, Jul 1997. 215-20 pp. Basingstoke, England. In Eng.
"Based upon the premise that increases in the density of
population will be coterminous with a worsening of the environment, it
is hypothesised that such changes should be reflected in an increase in
cancer mortality in general and in elderly populations. By focusing
upon changes in the elderly (+75) deaths between two time periods, the
study corrects for age factors related to cancer mortality. The study
tests this hypothesis via correlations between population density and
malignancy death rates in general and elderly age bands over a thirty
year period [1963-1993 in England and Wales and the developed
world]....It was found that there were positive and significant
correlations between population density and malignancy mortality rates
in the western world....The findings were not an artefact of longevity,
[and] further research is required to give a better understanding of
these findings."
Correspondence: C. Pritchard,
University of Southampton, Department of Social Work Studies,
Highfield, Southampton SO17 1BJ, England. Location: Princeton
University Library (SPR).
64:10194 Pritchard, Colin; Evans, B.
Comparison of cancer deaths in England and Wales and the developed
world by age and gender 1973-92, and, new malignancies in England and
Wales 1971-88. Public Health, No. 110, 1996. 49-59 pp.
Basingstoke, England. In Eng.
"Cancer deaths in England and
Wales and the developed world were examined by age and gender between
1973-1992. Whilst over-all mortality levels increased, this was mainly
linked to extended longevity, as the rate fell substantially for people
under 55 in the majority of countries, possibly as a result of improved
treatment and prevention outcomes. Whilst England and Wales had above
average reductions in cancer deaths, especially for children, there
were considerable rises in new malignancies, 1971-88, particularly
amongst women under 35 years, and in certain selected
sites."
Correspondence: C. Pritchard, University of
Southampton, Department of Social Work Studies, Highfield, Southampton
SO17 1BJ, England. Location: Princeton University Library
(SPR).
64:10195 Reeves, Barnaby C.; Quigley,
Maria. A review of data-derived methods for assigning
causes of death from verbal autopsy data. International Journal of
Epidemiology, Vol. 26, No. 5, Oct 1997. 1,080-9 pp. Oxford, England. In
Eng.
"The objectives of this paper are threefold: first, to
identify and describe the main data-derived classification methods that
are available for assigning [cause of death] on the basis of VA [verbal
autopsy] data; second, to consider factors which may influence the
choice of method; third, to discuss issues concerned with the
evaluation of classifiers." Results indicate that "four main
factors influence the choice of classification method: (a) the purpose
for which a classifier is being developed, (b) the number of validated
causes of death assigned to each case, (c) the characteristics of the
VA data and (d) the need for a classifier to be
comprehensible."
Correspondence: B. C. Reeves,
University of Bristol, Department of Social Medicine, Canynge Hall,
Whiteladies Road, Bristol BS8 2PR, England. Location:
Princeton University Library (SPR).
64:10196 Rodríguez Artalejo, Fernando;
Guallar-Castillón, Pilar; Gutiérrez-Fisac, Juan L.;
Banegas, José R.; del Rey Calero, Juan.
Socioeconomic level, sedentary lifestyle, and wine consumption as
possible explanations for geographic distribution of cerebrovascular
disease mortality in Spain. Stroke, Vol. 28, No. 5, May 1997.
922-8 pp. Dallas, Texas. In Eng.
"This report seeks to
identify the socioeconomic and lifestyle factors that most contribute
to the geographic pattern of CVD [cerebrovascular disease] mortality in
Spain....Only illiteracy, sedentary lifestyle, and wine consumption
registered a statistically significant relationship (p<.05) with CVD
mortality. Whereas lower consumption of wine showed a negative
association with CVD mortality, higher consumption revealed a positive
association."
Correspondence: F. Rodríguez
Artalejo, Universidad Autónoma de Madrid, Departamento de
Medicina Preventiva y Salud Pública, Avenida Arzobispo Morcillo
s/n, 28029 Madrid, Spain. Location: Princeton University
Library (SPR).
64:10197 Ronsmans, Carine; Vanneste, Anne M.;
Chakraborty, Jyotsnamoy; van Ginneken, Jeroen. Decline in
maternal mortality in Matlab, Bangladesh: a cautionary tale.
Lancet, Vol. 350, No. 9094, Dec 20-27, 1997. 1,810-4 pp. New York, New
York/London, England. In Eng.
The authors examine the problems
associated with analyzing the impact of special programs, such as the
community-based maternity-care delivery system developed in Matlab,
Bangladesh, on obstetric mortality. The data are for the period
1976-1993 and concern both the area that received extensive services in
health and family planning and neighboring areas that received no such
input. The results indicate that "although the introduction of the
maternity-care programme coincided with declining trends in direct
obstetric mortality in the areas covered by the programme, a decline
also occurred in one of the areas not receiving any such interventions.
Caution is required in the interpretation of short-term trends in one
indicator in studies designed without random allocation of
interventions into treatment and control
groups."
Correspondence: C. Ronsmans, Institute of
Tropical Medicine, Department of Clinical Sciences, Nationalestraat
155, 2000 Antwerp, Belgium. E-mail: cronsmans@itg.be. Location:
Princeton University Library (SZ).
64:10198 Salter, Cynthia; Johnston, Heidi B.;
Hengen, Nicolene. Care for postabortion complications:
saving women's lives. Population Reports, Series L: Issues in
World Health, No. 10, Sep 1997. 31 pp. Johns Hopkins University, Center
for Communication Programs, Population Information Program [PIP]:
Baltimore, Maryland. In Eng.
This report examines maternal
mortality in developing countries, focusing on one major cause,
complications of unsafe abortion. The report suggests that
"providing appropriate medical care immediately could save many
thousands of women's lives. Offering family planning could prevent many
future unintended pregnancies and unsafe
abortions."
Correspondence: Johns Hopkins School of
Public Health, Population Information Program, Center for Communication
Programs, 111 Market Place, Suite 310, Baltimore, MD 21202-4012.
E-mail: PopRepts@welchlink.welch.jhu.edu. Location: Princeton
University Library (SPR).
64:10199 Shkolnikov, Vladimir M.; Nemtsov,
Alexander. The anti-alcohol campaign and variations in
Russian mortality. In: Premature death in the New Independent
States, edited by José L. Bobadilla, Christine A. Costello, and
Faith Mitchell. 1997. 239-61 pp. National Academy Press: Washington,
D.C. In Eng.
The authors investigate mortality variations in Russia
and the anti-alcohol campaign instituted by Gorbachev in 1985.
"This study first reviews patterns of alcohol consumption in
Russia and describes the anti-alcohol campaign. The next section
examines variations in mortality levels during and following the
campaign and the number of deaths prevented as a result of it. The
following section focuses specifically on male mortality trends and
patterns. Finally, we explore the question of whether alcohol abuse
alone can explain the large increase in mortality in Russia in
1993."
Correspondence: V. M. Shkolnikov, Russian
Academy of Sciences, Institute for Forecasting the National Economy,
Leninsky Pr. 14, 117901 Moscow, Russia. Location: Princeton
University Library (SPR).
64:10200 Simonsen, Lone; Clarke, Matthew J.;
Williamson, G. David; Stroup, Donna F.; Arden, Nancy H.; Schonberger,
Lawrence B. The impact of influenza epidemics on
mortality: introducing a severity index. American Journal of
Public Health, Vol. 87, No. 12, Dec 1997. 1,944-50 pp. Washington, D.C.
In Eng.
"The purpose of this study was to assess the impact of
recent influenza epidemics on mortality in the United States and to
develop an index for comparing the severity of individual
epidemics....A cyclical regression model was applied to weekly national
vital statistics from 1972 through 1992 to estimate excesses in
pneumonia and influenza mortality and all-cause mortality for each
influenza season." The results show that "from 1972 through
1992, influenza epidemics accounted for a total of 426,000 deaths in
the United States, many times more than those associated with recent
pandemics."
Correspondence: M. J. Clarke, U.S. Centers
for Disease Control and Prevention, Division of Viral and Rickettsial
Diseases, MS A-32, 1600 Clifton Road NE, Atlanta, GA 30333.
Location: Princeton University Library (SZ).
64:10201 Stanton, Cynthia; Abderrahim,
Noureddine; Hill, Kenneth. DHS maternal mortality
indicators: an assessment of data quality and implications for data
use. DHS Analytical Report, No. 4, Sep 1997. ix, 60 pp. Macro
International, Demographic and Health Surveys [DHS]: Calverton,
Maryland. In Eng.
"This report is a compilation of the
maternal mortality data collected in 14 DHS surveys. The objectives of
the report are to document DHS procedures for the use of the maternal
mortality module, to assess the quality of the sibling history data
used to derive the maternal mortality indicators, to provide
standardized analyses of these data and to discuss the appropriate use
and interpretation of DHS maternal mortality
estimates."
Correspondence: Macro International,
Demographic and Health Surveys, 11785 Beltsville Drive, Suite 300,
Calverton, MD 20705-3119. E-mail: reports@macroint.com. Location:
Princeton University Library (SPR).
64:10202 Stephenson, Patricia; Chalmers,
Beverley; Kirichenko, Valentina F.; Repina, Margarita A.; Wagner,
Marsden. Reducing maternal mortality in St.
Petersburg. World Health Forum, Vol. 18, No. 2, 1997. 189-93 pp.
Geneva, Switzerland. In Eng.
"Following the entry of St.
Petersburg into Europe's Healthy Cities Project in 1991 it was decided
that the highest priority should be given to reducing the city's
maternal mortality ratio....Preventing deaths from unsafe, illegal
abortion became the main focus of attention....The maternal mortality
ratio and the abortion rate have now declined and contraceptive use
appears to be increasing."
Correspondence: P.
Stephenson, Nyhavn 40, 1051 Copenhagen K, Denmark. Location:
Princeton University Library (SPR).
64:10203 Wald, N. J.; Watt, H. C.
Prospective study of effect of switching from cigarettes to pipes
or cigars on mortality from three smoking related diseases.
British Medical Journal, Vol. 314, No. 7098, Jun 28, 1997. 1,860-3 pp.
London, England. In Eng.
The authors "estimate the extent to
which cigarette smokers who switch to cigars or pipes alter their risk
of dying of three smoking related diseases--lung cancer, ischaemic
heart disease, and chronic obstructive lung disease [using data from] a
prospective study of 21,520 men [in England] aged 35-64
years....Cigarette smokers who have difficulty in giving up smoking
altogether are better off changing to cigars or pipes than continuing
to smoke cigarettes. Much of the effect is due to the reduction in the
quantity of tobacco smoked, and some is due to inhaling less. Men who
switch do not, however, achieve the lower risk of pipe and cigar
smokers who have never smoked cigarettes. All pipe and cigar smokers
have a greater risk of lung cancer than lifelong non-smokers or former
smokers."
Correspondence: N. J. Wald, St.
Bartholomew's and Royal London School of Medicine and Dentistry,
Wolfson Institute of Preventive Medicine, BUPA Epidemiological Research
Group, London EC1M 6BQ, England. Location: Princeton
University Library (SZ).
64:10204 Wanner, Philippe. The
impact of smoking on mortality and life expectancy of the Swiss
population, 1988-1993. [L'impact du tabagisme sur la
mortalité des Suisses et sur leur durée de vie en
1988/1993.] Sozial- und Präventivmedizin/Médecine Sociale
et Preventive, Vol. 42, 1997. 223-9 pp. Basel, Switzerland. In Fre.
with sum. in Eng; Ger.
Official data are used to calculate the
effect of cigarette smoking on mortality and life expectancy in
Switzerland. The results indicate that smoking reduced life expectancy
for males by 2.9 years and for females by 0.7 years in the period
1988-1993. The data also show, however, that mortality from smoking has
declined for all ages between 35 and 74 since 1960. Smoking is
currently responsible for about 16% of deaths and 20% of premature
deaths in the Swiss population aged 25-64.
Correspondence:
P. Wanner, Bundesamt für Statistik, Section de l'Evolution de
la Population, Schwarztorstrasse 53, 3003 Bern, Switzerland. E-mail:
Philippe.Wanner@bfs.admin.ch. Location: Princeton University
Library (SPR).
64:10205 Whitman, Steven; Good, Glenn;
Donoghue, Edmund R.; Benbow, Nanette; Shou, Wenyuan; Mou,
Shanxuan. Mortality in Chicago attributed to the July 1995
heat wave. American Journal of Public Health, Vol. 87, No. 9, Sep
1997. 1,515-8 pp. Washington, D.C. In Eng.
"This study
assessed mortality associated with the mid-July 1995 heat wave in
Chicago [Illinois]....Analyses focused on heat-related deaths, as
designated by the medical examiner, and on the number of excess
deaths....In July 1995, there were 514 heat-related deaths and 696
excess death. People 65 years of age or older were overrepresented and
Hispanic people underrepresented....The methods used here provide
insight into the great impact of the Chicago heat wave on selected
populations, but the lack of methodological standards makes comparisons
across geographical areas problematic."
Correspondence:
S. Whitman, Chicago Department of Public Health, Epidemiology
Program, Room 2136, 333 S. State Street, Chicago, IL 60604.
Location: Princeton University Library (SZ).
64:10206 Wilkins, Kathryn; Wysocki, Marek;
Morin, Carole; Wood, Patricia. Multiple causes of
death. [Causes multiples de décès.] Health
Reports/Rapports sur la Santé, Vol. 9, No. 2, Autumn 1997.
19-29, 21-32 pp. Ottawa, Canada. In Eng; Fre.
"This article
illustrates analytical uses of multiple-cause-of-death data [in
Canada], which reflect all causes entered on the death certificate, not
only the single, underlying cause. Heart diseases are used as an
example....Four-fifths of death certificates contained more than one
cause; the maximum was 16. Certain causes such as septicaemia and
atherosclerosis contributed to death much more often than they were
selected as the underlying cause. Among selected causes, diabetes was
most positively associated with the presence of heart
diseases."
Correspondence: K. Wilkins, Statistics
Canada, Health Statistics Division, Ottawa, Ontario K1A 0T6, Canada.
Location: Princeton University Library (SPR).
64:10207 Yang, Zi Hui. The study
of suicides in Chinese cities and rural areas. Chinese Journal of
Population Science, Vol. 9, No. 3, 1997. 223-38 pp. New York, New York.
In Eng.
"This paper studies the changes, trends, regularities,
and characteristics of suicides committed by Chinese people based on
statistical data and some investigative information from the government
health department. From a sociological point of view, the author also
analyzes the reasons for suicide in China and proposes some methods to
reduce the suicide rate or avoid suicide."
Location:
Princeton University Library (SPR).
