E. Mortality

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.

E.1. General Mortality

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.

64:20104 Bartley, Mel; Davey Smith, George; Blane, David. Vital comparisons: the social construction of mortality measurement. In: The sociology of medical science and technology, edited by Mary A. Elston. 1997. 127-52 pp. Blackwell: Malden, Massachusetts/Oxford, England. In Eng.
The authors examine the history of two statistical tools now routinely used in epidemiology and public health to explain observed distributions of death or disease. Such information is used in the formulation of preventive health policies. The authors note that the facts on which the development of such policies is based are strongly related to the statistical methods used to produce the relevant data. They describe how the Standardized Mortality Ratio and the Odds Ratio were developed over time as a measure of life expectancy and as a standard means of determining the relative importance of different putative causes of disease, respectively. The importance of taking into account the age distribution of the population under study in developing such measures is stressed. The geographical focus is on the United Kingdom.
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 (FST).

64:20105 Becker, Jasper. Hungry ghosts: China's secret famine. ISBN 0-7195-5433-0. 1996. xiii, 352 pp. John Murray: London, England. In Eng.
This book is about the famine that occurred in China between 1958 and 1962, in which some 30 million people may have died. Based on interviews with survivors of the famine both within and outside of China, the author attempts to answer the following questions: "Why, and how, did such a cataclysm take place? Who was to blame? How was it kept secret for so long? And what was life like in the countryside? How did people behave and how did they survive?"
Correspondence: John Murray, 50 Albemarle Street, London W1X 4BD, England. Location: Princeton University Library (FST).

64:20106 Bovet, Jean; Spagnoli, Jacques; Sudan, Corinne. Mortality and birthday. [Mortalité et anniversaire de naissance.] Sozial- und Präventivmedizin/Médecine Sociale et Preventive, Vol. 42, No. 3, 1997. 155-61 pp. Basel, Switzerland. In Fre. with sum. in Eng; Ger.
"The authors study the date of death in relationship, in the annual cycle, to date of birthday of every person who died of natural causes in Switzerland between 1st January, 1969, and 31st December, 1992.... They highlight a maximal mortality (17% over expected) on the actual anniversary of birth with the entire population, a slightly lower figure being found under 80 years of age, higher over this age. They tie this phenomenon to the classical group of `anniversary reactions', in which problems of identity probably play a role. An uncertainty hangs nevertheless over the value of these findings, which are not confirmed by any published material, and even denied by some."
Correspondence: J. Bovet, Centre de Recherche Pyschiatrique, 18 avenue de Sévelin, 1004 Lausanne, Switzerland. Location: Princeton University Library (SPR).

64:20107 Dion, Michèle. The level of French mortality estimated from obituaries published in the newspaper Le Figaro. [La mortalité en France au travers des faire-part de décès. Le "Carnet" du Figaro.] Population, Vol. 52, No. 6, Nov-Dec 1997. 1,571-7 pp. Paris, France. In Fre.
Mortality in France is examined based on data from 7,807 obituaries published in the newspaper Le Figaro in 1995. The author analyzes mortality by sex, age, and marital status; causes of death; titles or decorations; profession; seasonal variations in mortality; and place of death, funeral ceremonies, and burial. It is concluded that such obituaries provide a good source of data for analyzing mortality among the readership of the newspaper concerned.
Correspondence: M. Dion, Université de Bourgogne, Maison de l'Université, Esplanade Erasme, B.P. 138, 21004 Dijon Cedex, France. Location: Princeton University Library (SPR).

64:20108 Ermakov, S. P. Trends and features of the structure of mortality in the Russian population under contemporary conditions. [Tendentsii i osobennosti struktury smertnosti naseleniya Rossii v sovremennykh usloviyakh.] Sotsiologicheskie Issledovaniya, No. 6, 1997. 66-80 pp. Moscow, Russia. In Rus.
The author makes the case that the radical economic, social, and political changes that Russia has recently made were bound to have negative demographic impacts. A general analysis of population trends in Russia over the period 1964-1994 is presented. Particular attention is given to recent trends in the causes of death, particularly in the period of socioeconomic crisis from 1989 to 1995, and some comparisons are made with other countries. Long-term trends in longevity are also assessed.
Location: Princeton University Library (PR).

64:20109 Flood, Andrew P. Nutrition and the epidemiologic transition in Indonesia. Journal of Population, Vol. 3, No. 1, Jun 1997. 67-96 pp. Depok, Indonesia. In Eng.
The author examines the relationship between changing consumption patterns and recent mortality trends in Indonesia, with a focus on health and nutrition. Changes in chronic disease rates and the impact of dietary fat consumption are discussed. Future scenarios for health and mortality are considered.
Correspondence: A. P. Flood, Cornell University, Cornell International Institute for Food, Agriculture and Development, Ithaca, NY 14853. E-mail: apfl@cornell.edu. Location: Princeton University Library (SPR).

64:20110 Govindasamy, Pavalavalli; Ramesh, B. M. Maternal education and the utilization of maternal and child health services in India. National Family Health Survey Subject Report, No. 5, Dec 1997. 28 pp. International Institute for Population Sciences: Mumbai, India; Macro International, Demographic and Health Surveys [DHS]: Calverton, Maryland. In Eng.
"Using data from the National Family Health Survey 1992-93, we examine the relationship between maternal schooling and factors known to reduce the risks of maternal and child mortality, namely, health-care practices, for some selected northern and southern states in India.... We conclude that the benefits of maternal education persist even when other socioeconomic factors are taken into account."
Correspondence: International Institute for Population Sciences, Govandi Station Road, Deonar, Mumbai 400 088, India. E-mail: iipps.nfhs@axcess.net.in. Location: Princeton University Library (SPR).

64:20111 Hakes, Jahn K.; Viscusi, W. Kip. Mortality risk perceptions: a Bayesian reassessment. Journal of Risk and Uncertainty, Vol. 15, No. 2, Nov 1997. 135-50 pp. Hingham, Massachusetts. In Eng.
"This study uses data on perceived and actual mortality risks to test several alternative Bayesian models of the factors influencing risk beliefs. The analysis...indicates that while the hazard rate for the individual age group is an influential factor, the overall population death rate and the discounted expected number of life years lost due to the cause of death are also influential in affecting risk perceptions.... The predictive power of a linear perception model increases with the level of the risk and is least accurate for very small risks."
Correspondence: J. K. Hakes, Harvard Law School, Program on Empirical Legal Studies, Cambridge, MA 02138. E-mail: jhakes@law.harvard.edu. Location: Princeton University Library (SPR).

64:20112 Kenya. Central Bureau of Statistics (Nairobi, Kenya). Kenya population census 1989: Analytical report. Volume V: mortality. [1997?]. [107] pp. Nairobi, Kenya. In Eng.
This report analyzes the data from the 1989 census of Kenya on mortality. There are chapters on child mortality, adult mortality, model life tables, and conclusions and recommendations.
Correspondence: Central Bureau of Statistics, Ministry of Planning and National Development, P.O. Box 30266, Nairobi, Kenya. Location: Northwestern University Library, Evanston, IL.

64:20113 Kingkade, W. Ward; Vasin, Sergey. Mortality by cause of death in Russia's recent past: regional variations before and after the break-up. In: International Population Conference/Congrès International de la Population: Beijing, 1997, Volume 2. 1997. 555-79 pp. International Union for the Scientific Study of Population [IUSSP]: Liège, Belgium. In Eng.
Recent mortality trends in Russia are analyzed using data on causes of death by oblast (district) for the period 1989-1994. The authors use the measure of years of life lost developed by Arriaga to assess the level of mortality in terms of its impact on length of life. "The years of life lost among Russian males in 1994 amount to 22 years, or 27 percent of the interval from age 1 to age 80; the corresponding figure for 1989 is 15.6 years, almost 20 percent of the interval. The tempo of increase in loss of life became more pronounced after the break-up of the USSR, punctuated by an especially severe rise of about 3 years for men and 1.3 for women from 1992 to 1993." Particular attention is given to regional differences in mortality.
Correspondence: W. W. Kingkade, U.S. Bureau of the Census, International Programs Center, Washington Plaza II, Room 114, Washington, D.C. 20233-8860. E-mail: Wkingkad@census.gov. Location: Princeton University Library (SPR).

64:20114 Merino, Cristina; Aguinaga, Lenin; Vallejo, Francisco. Correction of underregistration of general mortality. [Corrección del subregistro de mortalidad general.] Correo Poblacional y de la Salud, Vol. 5, No. 3, Sep 1997. 15-9 pp. Quito, Ecuador. In Spa.
The authors evaluate the underregistration of mortality in Latin America, using the example of Ecuador. Underregistration by province, age group, sex, and cause of death is investigated.
Location: Princeton University Library (SPR).

64:20115 Merli, M. Giovanna. Mortality in Vietnam, 1979-1989. Population Aging Research Center Working Paper, No. 97-01, 1997. 52 pp. University of Pennsylvania, Population Aging Research Center: Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. In Eng.
"This paper employs the only official data on mortality available from the first two modern censuses of Vietnam to estimate mortality in Vietnam during the 1979-1989 period. During this period, massive outflows of refugees, population redistribution policies, and a highly mobile population as a result of the loosening of control under the economic reforms seriously undermine the effort to accurately measure mortality from two census age distributions. In this paper, I take steps to minimize bias from these sources.... The reconciliation of results from different methods of mortality estimation allows one to identify the most consistent, accurate measurement of mortality levels prevailing in Vietnam in the 1979-1989 period."
Correspondence: University of Pennsylvania, Population Aging Research Center, 3718 Locust Walk, Philadelphia, PA 19104-6298. Location: University of Pennsylvania, Demography Library, Philadelphia, PA.

64:20116 Meslé, France. Trends in the causes of death: the different aspects of the epidemiological transition. [L'évolution de la mortalité par cause: les différentes facettes de la transition épidémiologique.] Médecine/Sciences, Vol. 13, No. 8-9, Aug-Sep 1997. 1,008-17 pp. Montrouge, France. In Fre.
This is a general review of mortality trends around the world. The author examines not only the changes in the major causes of death from infectious diseases to degenerative diseases, often described as the epidemiological transition, but also the extent to which some developed countries have managed to bring down mortality from these degenerative diseases, such as cancer. The situations in the developed and developing countries are discussed separately. The author also considers probable future trends in mortality around the world.
Correspondence: Institut National d'Etudes Démographiques, 133 boulevard Davout, 75020 Paris, France. Location: Princeton University Library (SPR).

64:20117 Muganzi, Zibeon. Some aspects of mortality levels and differentials in the city of Nairobi, Kenya. African Urban Quarterly, Vol. 7, No. 1-2, Feb-May 1992. 64-6 pp. Nairobi, Kenya. In Eng.
"The paper first looks at mortality studies in Kenya in general and urban areas in particular in light of the available data.... [It then] focuses on the mortality levels and differentials using the 1979 population census."
Correspondence: Z. Muganzi, University of Nairobi, Population Studies and Research Institute, P.O. Box 30197, Nairobi, Kenya. Location: Princeton University Library (SPR).

64:20118 Murray, Christopher J. L.; Lopez, Alan D. The global burden of disease: a comprehensive assessment of mortality and disability from diseases, injuries, and risk factors in 1990 and projected to 2020. Global Burden of Disease and Injury Series, ISBN 0-9655466-0-8. 1996. 43 pp. Harvard University, School of Public Health: Boston, Massachusetts; World Health Organization [WHO]: Geneva, Switzerland; World Bank: Washington, D.C. In Eng.
This booklet provides a summary of a book of the same title, also published in 1996, presenting information on global morbidity and mortality. It also contains examples of the worldwide epidemiology of 240 conditions from another work by the same authors, also published in 1996. Information is included on the major causes of death around the world in 1990.
For the two studies referred to, see 63:10735 and 63:20432.
Correspondence: Harvard University Press, 79 Garden Street, Cambridge, MA 02138. Location: Princeton University Library (SPR).

64:20119 Notzon, Francis C.; Komarov, Yuri M.; Ermakov, Sergei P.; Sempos, Christopher T.; Marks, James S.; Sempos, Elena V. Causes of declining life expectancy in Russia. JAMA: Journal of the American Medical Association, Vol. 279, No. 10, Mar 11, 1998. 793-800 pp. Chicago, Illinois. In Eng.
This is an analysis of the decline in life expectancy that occurred in Russia in the period 1990-1994. Official vital statistics data are used to identify the impact of changes in specific causes of death on overall mortality. The authors conclude that "the striking rise in Russian mortality is beyond the peacetime experience of industrialized countries, with a 5-year decline in life expectancy in 4 years' time. Many factors appear to be operating simultaneously, including economic and social instability, high rates of tobacco and alcohol consumption, poor nutrition, depression, and deterioration of the health care system. Problems in data quality and reporting appear unable to account for these findings. These results clearly demonstrate that major declines in health and life expectancy can take place rapidly."
Correspondence: F. C. Notzon, National Center for Health Statistics, 6525 Belcrest Road, Room 701, Hyattsville, MD 20782. E-mail: fcn2@cdc.gov. Location: Princeton University Library (SZ).

64:20120 Santow, Gigi. The mortality, epidemiological and health transitions: their relevance for the study of health and mortality. Stockholm Research Reports in Demography, No. 122, ISBN 91-7820-115-2. Nov 1997. 18 pp. Stockholm University, Demography Unit: Stockholm, Sweden. In Eng.
"I sketch out first the nature of...three `transitions'--the mortality transition, the epidemiological transition, and the health transition--that provide the frameworks within which demographers attempt to explain our past, understand our present, and improve our future. Next, I describe the recent health experiences of countries with developed market economies, of countries with economies in transition, and of the developing countries."
Correspondence: Stockholm University, Demography Unit, 106 91 Stockholm, Sweden. Location: Princeton University Library (SPR).

64:20121 Sen, Amartya. Mortality as an indicator of economic success and failure. Economic Journal, Vol. 108, No. 446, Jan 1998. 1-25 pp. Oxford, England. In Eng.
"Quality of life depends on various physical and social conditions, such as the epidemiological environment in which a person lives. The availability of health care and the nature of medical insurance--public as well as private--are among the important influences on life and death. So are other social services, including basic education and the orderliness of urban living, and the access to modern medical knowledge in rural communities. The statistics on mortality draw our attention to all these policy issues. Mortality information can throw light also on the nature of social inequalities, including gender bias and racial disparities."
Correspondence: A. Sen, Harvard University, 9 Bow Street, Cambridge, MA 02138. Location: Princeton University Library (IR).

64:20122 Shapiro, Judith. The hypothesis of stress as a leading explanatory variable. In: International Population Conference/Congrès International de la Population: Beijing, 1997, Volume 2. 1997. 529-53 pp. International Union for the Scientific Study of Population [IUSSP]: Liège, Belgium. In Eng.
"The hypothesis that increased stress is an important explanatory variable in the rise in Russian mortality in the 1990s has been widely accepted, though the evidence for it necessarily remains circumstantial. This evidence is reviewed here, the major competing and complementary hypotheses examined, and the difficulties in identifying and disentangling causal factors confronted. It is argued that the next steps should involve the use of much more micro data, though the existing demographic data have also not been fully utilised. An overall conclusion is that the stress hypothesis remains as an important hypothesis, neither confirmed nor disconfirmed at this point."
Correspondence: J. Shapiro, University of London, Goldsmiths College, London WC1E 7HU, England. Location: Princeton University Library (SPR).

64:20123 Skretowicz, Biruta. A contribution to the problem of premature mortality among Polish population. Polish Population Review, No. 11, 1997. 29-39 pp. Warsaw, Poland. In Eng.
The author analyzes trends in premature mortality in Poland from 1960 to 1995. "Over the last 35 years the percentage of premature deaths in Poland decreased systematically: from 55.5% to 33.2%.... The intensity of deaths among males over 30 [has increased rapidly]; during the same period the intensity of deaths among females was relatively stable, with a slight downward tendency."
Correspondence: B. Skretowicz, Institute of Agricultural Medicine, ul. Jaczewskiego 2, 20-950 Lublin, Poland. Location: Princeton University Library (SPR).

64:20124 Smith, Ken R.; McClean, Sally I. An introduction to the analysis of paired hazard rates in studies of the family. Journal of Marriage and the Family, Vol. 60, No. 1, Feb 1998. 243-57 pp. Minneapolis, Minnesota. In Eng.
"Hazard rate models in studies of the family are becoming more common. Ironically, family studies scholars have generally used these techniques based on individuals, rather than explicitly on couples or families. We describe and apply selected techniques used to analyze paired hazard rates when event times are right censored. We illustrate the techniques by looking at mortality patterns in husbands and wives. Recently developed measures and models are introduced and applied to a sample of 1,031 married couples from the [U.S.] National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES I) and the NHANES I Epidemiologic Follow-Up Study (NHEFS). The advantages and disadvantages of the measures are discussed."
Correspondence: K. R. Smith, University of Utah, Department of Family and Consumer Studies, 228 AEB, Salt Lake City, UT 84112. E-mail: smith@fcs.utah.edu. Location: Princeton University Library (SPR).

64:20125 Szreter, Simon; Mooney, Graham. Urbanization, mortality, and the standard of living debate: new estimates of the expectation of life at birth in nineteenth-century British cities. Economic History Review, Vol. 51, No. 1, Feb 1998. 84-112 pp. Oxford, England. In Eng.
"This article provides empirically based estimates for life expectancy at birth in the largest British cities in the nineteenth century. This evidence reflects the experience of women and children as well as men. It indicates that mortality levels in Britain's industrializing cities deteriorated substantially during the second quarter of the nineteenth century and did not improve significantly thereafter until the 1870s and 1880s. These findings confirm the implications of other recent research within the standard of living debate, notably anthropometric work. Such evidence indicates that, despite rising adult male real wages, the standard of living of the industrial urban population was seriously compromised during the second and third quarters of the nineteenth century."
Correspondence: S. Szreter, University of Cambridge, St. John's College, Cambridge CB2 1TP, England. Location: Princeton University Library (PR).

64:20126 van Poppel, Frans; van der Heijden, Cor. The effects of water supply on infant and childhood mortality: a review of historical evidence. Health Transition Review, Vol. 7, No. 2, Oct 1997. 113-48 pp. Canberra, Australia. In Eng.
"The provision of clean water is mentioned as an important factor in many studies dealing with the decline of mortality in Europe during the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. In developing countries too, improved water supply is assumed to have a strong impact on mortality. When studying the effect of water supply on public health, researchers are confronted with many methodological problems. Most of these also apply to historical studies of the subject. We review the evidence from this historical research, taking into account the methodological problems observed in contemporary impact evaluation studies, and we use more refined data from the Dutch city of Tilburg, enabling us to overcome many of these shortcomings. Finally, we discuss some factors which may explain why we failed to discover an effect of the availability of piped water on the level of childhood mortality."
Correspondence: F. van Poppel, Netherlands Interdisciplinary Demographic Institute, P.O. Box 11650, 2502 AR The Hague, Netherlands. Location: Princeton University Library (SPR).

64:20127 Wanner, Philippe; Peng, Fei; Cotter, Stéphane. Mortality by age and cause of death in Switzerland: an analysis of cantonal disparities during the period 1978/83-1988/93. [Mortalité par âge et cause de décès en Suisse: une analyse des disparités cantonales durant la période 1978/83 à 1988/93.] European Journal of Population/Revue Européenne de Démographie, Vol. 13, No. 4, Dec 1997. 381-99 pp. Dordrecht, Netherlands. In Fre. with sum. in Eng.
"During the 1980s, expectation of life at birth increased in all the Swiss cantons, but at very different tempi. The characteristics of the level and trends of mortality in the cantons are described here by the decomposition methods developed by Pollard and Arriaga. The pace of the development of mortality in the cantons is compared, and the particular characteristics observed are accounted for by life table analysis according to age and cause of death. The results show in particular the dominant role [of] economically active ages and beyond in recent mortality trends, and the importance of AIDS and of violent deaths in accounting for differences between cantons."
Correspondence: P. Wanner, Office Fédéral de la Statistique, Schwarztorstrasse 53, 3003 Bern, Switzerland. E-mail: Philippe.Wanner@bfs.admin.ch. Location: Princeton University Library (SPR).

64:20128 Wilmoth, John R. The future of human longevity: a demographer's perspective. Science, Vol. 280, No. 5362, Apr 17, 1998. 395-7 pp. Washington, D.C. In Eng.
The author suggests that extrapolation of past mortality trends, which have been rising steadily over the last 100 years, may be the best way to predict future mortality rates and life expectancy. He warns, however, of extrapolating short-term trends too far into the future, and observes that "the greatest uncertainties affecting future mortality trends derive from social and political, rather than technological, factors."
Correspondence: J. R. Wilmoth, University of California, Department of Demography, 2232 Piedmont Avenue, Berkeley, CA 94720. E-mail: jrw@demog.berkeley.edu. Location: Princeton University Library (SQ).

64:20129 Woods, Robert; Shelton, Nicola. An atlas of Victorian mortality. ISBN 0-85323-532-5. 1997. 165, [5] pp. Liverpool University Press: Liverpool, England. In Eng.
This atlas uses data from the Registrars General Decennial Supplements to provide a detailed description of mortality in Victorian England and Wales. "It uses 614 districts to chart variations and changes in the principal causes of death from the 1860s to the 1890s. The atlas deals especially with infant and childhood mortality, with early adult deaths, maternal mortality and the causes of death in old age. It has chapters devoted to tuberculosis, violent deaths and suicide, as well as mortality differentials and gender. With over forty maps in full colour accompanied by more than fifty illustrative diagrams, also in colour, the atlas offers an accessible and highly attractive introduction to one of the most important aspects of Victorian society--persistently high mortality. The atlas's concluding chapter also offers a new interpretation of the importance of epidemiology and environment in the nineteenth century which will be of special interest to economic and social historians, demographers and epidemiologists who are concerned with the long-term consequences of urbanisation and the levels of living debate in general."
Correspondence: Liverpool University Press, Senate House, Abercromby Square, Liverpool L69 3BX, England. Location: Princeton University Library (SPR).

64:20130 Wright, Russell O. Life and death in the United States: statistics on life expectancies, diseases and death rates for the twentieth century. ISBN 0-7864-0320-9. LC 97-20045. 1997. xi, 139 pp. McFarland: Jefferson, North Carolina. In Eng.
"The purpose of this book is to present data on life expectancy and the key causes of death in a way that makes it possible for even a casual observer to understand how life expectancy has changed in this century, to understand the key changes in the causes of death that produced the life expectancy changes, and to learn how to delay the impact of those causes so that each person can enjoy the full complement of years available." The primary geographical focus is on the United States. There are chapters on life expectancy, death rates, cardiovascular diseases, cancer, and the future.
Correspondence: McFarland, Box 611, Jefferson, NC 28640. Location: Princeton University Library (SPR).

E.2. Prenatal and Perinatal Mortality

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.

64:20131 George, Sabu M. Female infanticide in Tamil Nadu, India: from recognition back to denial? Reproductive Health Matters, No. 10, Nov 1997. 124-32 pp. London, England. In Eng. with sum. in Fre; Spa.
"This paper contains reflections based on over a decade of field work and study of [female infanticide in Tamil Nadu, South India], and information gathered from NGOs, activists and officials. It discusses the recent history of the practice of female infanticide, and the circumstances which forced the state government in 1992 to acknowledge its existence. Activities to prevent female infanticide, such as the `Girl Child Protection Scheme' and coercive actions against those committing female infanticide, by the state government and non-governmental organisations are critically reviewed."
Correspondence: S. M. George, 327 Prasanth Nagar, Medical College PO, Trivandrum 695 011, India. Location: Princeton University Library (SPR).

64:20132 Ingemarsson, Ingemar; Källén, Karin. Stillbirths and rate of neonatal deaths in 76,761 postterm pregnancies in Sweden, 1982-1991: a register study. Acta Obstetricia et Gynecologica Scandinavica, Vol. 76, No. 7, 1997. 658-62 pp. Copenhagen, Denmark. In Eng.
The authors "study stillbirths and neonatal mortality in the postterm period [in Sweden from 1982 to 1991].... Generally, the rates of stillbirths and neonatal deaths were low.... The results...indicate an increased risk of stillbirth with gestational age for primiparas but not for multiparas. The neonatal death rate was increased for both primiparas and multiparas (after 42 completed weeks)."
Correspondence: I. Ingemarsson, University Hospital, Department of Obstetrics and Gynaecology, 221 85 Lund, Sweden. Location: Princeton University Library (SPR).

E.3. Infant and Childhood Mortality

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.

64:20133 Afari, E. A.; Nkrumah, F. K.; Nakana, T.; Sakatoku, H.; Hori, H.; Binka, F. Impact of primary health care on childhood and mortality in rural Ghana: the Gomoa experience. Central African Journal of Medicine, Vol. 41, No. 5, 1995. 148-53 pp. Harare, Zimbabwe. In Eng.
"The impact of a combination of PHC [primary health care] intervention activities on child survival, growth, morbidity and mortality was assessed in three selected rural communities...in the Central Region of Ghana from 1987 to 1990.... These activities in their totality have had significant impact on morbidity and mortality in children under five and on maternal mortality over the study period...."
Correspondence: E. A. Afari, University of Ghana, Noguchi Memorial Institute for Medical Research, Epidemiology Unit, P.O. Box 25, Legon, Ghana. Location: Princeton University Library (SPR).

64:20134 Alam, Nurul. Siblings' mortality in Bangladesh: is the association age-and-cause specific? In: International Population Conference/Congrès International de la Population: Beijing, 1997, Volume 2. 1997. 647-68 pp. International Union for the Scientific Study of Population [IUSSP]: Liège, Belgium. In Eng.
"This study examines whether mortality of two adjacent siblings in families is age- and cause-specific, and is modified by MCH-FP programs and fertility and mortality declines in rural Bangladesh. Analyses included three birth cohorts during 1977-78, 1985-86 and 1989-90 in the Matlab treatment and comparison areas. Logistic regression was used to estimate the effects of survival status of elder sibling on mortality of younger siblings in the neonatal, post-neonatal and toddler (12-35 months) periods.... The odds of neonatal and post-neonatal deaths of younger siblings were higher respectively if the elder sibling had died in the same (not across) age periods than if the older sibling had survived infancy. The odds of siblings dying were even higher for non-infectious diseases in the neonatal period. Toddler mortality was lower if the elder sibling had died in infancy. Siblings' shared mortality risks in families did not decline over time in any area."
Correspondence: N. Alam, International Centre for Diarrhoeal Disease Research, Bangladesh, G.P.O. Box 128, Dhaka 1000, Bangladesh. E-mail: nalam@cis.icddrb.org. Location: Princeton University Library (SPR).

64:20135 Basar, Emel; Ekni, Müslim. An estimation of survival function based on breast-feeding durations. [Anne sütü ile beslenme sürelerine iliskin yasam sürdrüme fonksiyonu tahmini.] Turkish Journal of Population Studies/Nüfusbilim Dergisi, Vol. 19, 1997. 25-35 pp. Ankara, Turkey. In Tur. with sum. in Eng.
The authors assess some properties of the Kaplan-Meier estimator, a nonparametric estimator. The application is based on data from the 1993 Turkish Demographic and Health Survey. The authors estimate a survival function based on breast-feeding durations.
Correspondence: E. Basar, Gazi Üniversitesi, Fen Edebiyat Fakültesi Istatistik Bölümü, Tekinkokullar, Ankara, Turkey. Location: Princeton University Library (SPR).

64:20136 Cabigon, Josefina V. The effects of birthspacing and breastfeeding on childhood mortality in the Philippines. Journal of Population, Vol. 3, No. 1, Jun 1997. 1-18 pp. Depok, Indonesia. In Eng.
"This article demonstrates the marked low mortality risks associated with wide birthspacing and breastfeeding independent of the levels of bio-demographic, socioeconomic and health-related factors. Effects of preceding and succeeding birth intervals are strongest at ages 3-11 months. Those of the former are less strong but nevertheless appreciable at the other childhood ages. Benefits from breastfeeding are greatest at ages 0-2 months and gradually diminished with age. Breastfeeding is not the main mechanism through which birthspacing affected Philippine child mortality." Data are from the 1983 National Demographic Survey.
Correspondence: J. V. Cabigon, University of the Philippines, Population Institute, P.O. Box 227, U.P. Campus, Diliman, Quezon City 1101, Philippines. E-mail: POPINST@NICOLE.UPD.EDU.PH. Location: Princeton University Library (SPR).

64:20137 Cigno, Alessandro. Fertility decisions when infant survival is endogenous. Journal of Population Economics, Vol. 11, No. 1, Feb 1998. 21-8 pp. Berlin, Germany. In Eng.
"By modelling parental decisions as a problem of choice under uncertainty, the paper shows that fertility and infant mortality are most likely to move in opposite directions if, as implicitly assumed by existing economic theories, parents believe that there is nothing they can do to improve the survival chances of their own children. By contrast, if parents realize that those chances improve with the amount they spend for the health, nutrition, etc. of each child that they put into the world, then fertility and infant mortality may move in the same direction."
Correspondence: A. Cigno, Università degli Studi di Firenze, Facoltà di Scienze Politiche, Via Laura 48, 50121 Florence, Italy. Location: Princeton University Library (SPR).

64:20138 David, Patricia H. Family-building patterns and childhood mortality: a family-level analysis. In: International Population Conference/Congrès International de la Population: Beijing, 1997, Volume 2. 1997. 627-45 pp. International Union for the Scientific Study of Population [IUSSP]: Liège, Belgium. In Eng.
"This paper analyses mortality risk in sibships to explore the relationship between family formation factors and other household characteristics that identify women whose families are at higher risk. The analysis allows for the fact that reproductive behaviour may be modified by the family's prior experience of child death, using simultaneous equations methods to purge the model of the `feedback' effects of deaths on the endogenous variable, pace." Data are from the 1986 Peru Demographic and Health Survey. The results suggest that "the strong relationship between reproductive pace and average risk in a family appears to be due to the association of both with other differences between households. The pace of family-building does not lead to excess average family risk, but may result, as least in part, from the concentration of risk in families with other characteristic patterns of family formation and few resources. The paper argues for a broader conception of household influences on child health and the health-related behaviour of parents."
Correspondence: P. H. David, Harvard School of Public Health, Department of Population and International Health, 665 Huntington Avenue, Boston, MA 02115. E-mail: pdavid@hsph.harvard.edu. Location: Princeton University Library (SPR).

64:20139 Din-Dzietham, Rebecca; Hertz-Picciotto, Irva. Infant mortality differences between whites and African Americans: the effect of maternal education. American Journal of Public Health, Vol. 88, No. 4, Apr 1998. 651-6 pp. Washington, D.C. In Eng.
Data from the North Carolina Linked Birth and Infant Death File for the period 1988-1993 are used to examine how racial differences in infant mortality vary by maternal education. "Infant mortality risk ratios comparing African Americans and Whites increased with higher levels of maternal education. Education beyond high school reduced risk of infant mortality by 20% among Whites but had little effect among African Americans."
Correspondence: I. Hertz-Picciotto, University of North Carolina, School of Public Health, Department of Epidemiology, CB 7400, McGavran-Greenberg Hall, Chapel Hill, NC 27599-7400. Location: Princeton University Library (SZ).

64:20140 Elamin, Mahjoub A.; Bhuyan, K. C. Testing regression equality to study the fertility differentials by child mortality in North-Eastern Libya. Turkish Journal of Population Studies/Nüfusbilim Dergisi, Vol. 19, 1997. 127-39 pp. Ankara, Turkey. In Eng. with sum. in Tur.
The authors study "the impacts of different socio-demographic variables on fertility of couples experiencing differential child mortality in North-Eastern Libya. The test of equality of regression coefficients of any particular variable is also suggested. Results show that the regression coefficients in the fitted linear regression line of fertility of child loss mothers are significantly different than those in fitted linear regression lines of fertility of mothers without child loss."
Correspondence: M. A. Elamin, Garyounis University, Department of Statistics, Benghazi, Libya. Location: Princeton University Library (SPR).

64:20141 Feyisetan, Bamikale J.; Asa, Sola; Ebigbola, Joshua A. Timing of births and infant mortality in Nigeria. Genus, Vol. 53, No. 3-4, Jul-Dec 1997. 157-81 pp. Rome, Italy. In Eng. with sum. in Ita; Fre.
"Using retrospective data on births in the five years preceding the 1990 Nigeria Demographic and Health Survey, this study was designed to find out how `too early' (age 17-) or `too late' (age 35+) child bearing is associated with relatively higher risks of infant mortality in Nigeria. The study shows that (i) higher percentages of births among too young or too old mothers are in the high mortality risks categories; (ii) there are large reductions in the differences in infant mortality risks by age at birth on controlling for the selected background variables; (iii) the age of the mother at birth does not have an independent impact on infant mortality risks...and, (iv) the impact of the age of mother at birth is highest in the neonatal period."
Correspondence: B. J. Feyisetan, Obafemi Awolowo University, Department of Demography and Social Statistics, Ile-Ife, Nigeria. E-mail: bfeyiset@oau.net. Location: Princeton University Library (SPR).

64:20142 Golding, Jean; Emmett, Pauline M.; Rogers, Imogen S. Breast feeding and infant mortality. Early Human Development, Vol. 49, Suppl., 1997. 143-55 pp. Limerick, Ireland. In Eng.
"The evidence linking bottle feeding to infant and early childhood mortality [in developing and developed countries] has been reviewed. Ecological studies of national time trends in infant mortality do not parallel breast feeding trends in those countries, and indicate that falling death rates are more likely to be related to better health care facilities and social conditions.... The methodology exhibited in most studies is more likely to have over- rather than under-estimated a relationship between bottle feeding and infant mortality.... Prospective population studies able to account for large numbers of potential confounders provide the best estimates, especially if proportional hazards models are used. Two such studies have been carried out--both showed protective effects of breast feeding."
Correspondence: J. Golding, University of Bristol, Institute of Child Health, Unit of Paediatric and Perinatal Epidemiology, 24 Tyndall Avenue, Bristol BS8 1TQ, England. Location: Princeton University Library (SPR).

64:20143 Hojman, David E. Economic and other determinants of infant and child mortality in small developing countries: the case of Central America and the Caribbean. Applied Economics, Vol. 28, No. 3, Mar 1996. 281-90 pp. London, England. In Eng.
"This article examines the differences in infant mortality rates...and child mortality rates...between individual Central American and Caribbean countries at the beginning of the 1990s. It aims to explain these differences by looking at demographic, economic, health care and educational factors, in the context of a theoretical model in which both the birth rate and these mortality rates are endogenous. This approach also allows an assessment of the possible impact of structural adjustment after the external debt crisis (which started in 1982), upon fertility behaviour and the survival chances of infants and children."
Correspondence: D. E. Hojman, University of Liverpool, Department of Economics, P.O. Box 147, Liverpool L69 3BX, England. Location: Princeton University Library (FST).

64:20144 Irudaya Rajan, S.; Navaneetham, K. Maternal and child immunization on infant survival in Kerala, India. Janasamkhya, Vol. 12, No. 1-2, 1994. 159-82 pp. Kariavattom, India. In Eng.
The authors examine the impact of maternal and child health programs on the reduction of infant mortality in the state of Kerala, India. "To assess the maternal and child health program, a survey was carried out in Ernakulam, Palakkad and Malappuram districts of Kerala under the auspices of the Centre for Development Studies, Trivandrum. The analysis indicates that the decline in the 1980s is [due to] the Universal Immunization program. The program gave ante-natal care and immunization and above all, brought the pregnant women closer to the health system."
Correspondence: S. Irudaya Rajan, Centre for Development Studies, Prasantanagar Road, Ulloor, Trivandrum 695 011, Kerala, India. Location: Princeton University Library (SPR).

64:20145 Kalter, Henry D.; Na, Yingjian; O'Campo, Patricia. Decrease in infant mortality in New York City after 1989. American Journal of Public Health, Vol. 88, No. 5, May 1998. 816-20 pp. Washington, D.C. In Eng.
An attempt is made to identify the factors associated with the rapid decline in infant mortality that occurred in New York City from 1989 to 1992. Data are from the city's vital records. "Infant, neonatal, and postneonatal mortality of very-low-birthweight (<1500g) and normal-birthweight infants decreased significantly. The declines were almost entirely due to decreases in birth-weight-specific mortality rates, rather than increased birthweights. All races experienced most of these reductions. Mortality decreased significantly for 6 causes of death. These decreases were consistent with the birthweight/age groups experiencing mortality declines."
Correspondence: H. D. Kalter, Johns Hopkins University, School of Hygiene and Public Health, Department of International Health, 615 North Wolfe Street, Suite E8132, Baltimore, MD 21205. E-mail: hkalter@jhsph.edu. Location: Princeton University Library (SZ).

64:20146 Kasmiyati; Asih, Leli; Tjitra, Emiliana; Oesman, Hadriah. Factors influencing infant mortality in Indonesia in 1991. Journal of Population, Vol. 3, No. 1, Jun 1997. 19-36 pp. Depok, Indonesia. In Eng.
"This paper aims to estimate the infant, neonatal and postneonatal mortality rates in Indonesia and the factors influencing these rates. Data used in the analysis comes from the 1991 Indonesia Demographic and Health Survey (IDHS).... The independent variables are divided into three broad categories which are: a. Socioeconomic, cultural and environmental factors...; b. Biological factors...; [and] c. Health services factors...."
Correspondence: Kasmiyati, National Family Planning Coordinating Board, Jalan Letjen Haryono M.T., Jakarta 13630, Indonesia. Location: Princeton University Library (SPR).

64:20147 Khan, M. M. H.; Kabir, M. Differentials in infant mortality in Bangladesh by selected background characteristics: a life table approach. Journal of Family Welfare, Vol. 43, No. 1, Mar 1997. 62-70 pp. Mumbai, India. In Eng.
"This paper aims to investigate the differentials in infant mortality [in Bangladesh] by place and region of residence, to examine them by selected socioeconomic and demographic characteristics, and to determine the relative risk of dying for infants within the group of each determinant factor.... Data...were obtained from the 1989 Bangladesh Fertility Survey.... The study revealed that though infant and neonatal mortality rates were declining in recent years, the levels were still very high as compared to other developing countries."
Correspondence: M. M. H. Khan, Jahangirnagar University, Department of Statistics, Savar, Dhaka, Bangladesh. Location: Princeton University Library (SPR).

64:20148 Kuate Defo, Barthélémy. Joint hazard models of causes and covariates of mortality in a cohort of Sub-Saharan children. [Causes et déterminants de la mortalité avant l'âge de deux ans en Afrique subsaharienne: application des modèles à risques concurrents.] Cahiers Québécois de Démographie, Vol. 26, No. 1, Spring 1997. 3-40 pp. Montreal, Canada. In Fre. with sum. in Eng; Spa.
"The paper uses a demo-epidemiological analytic framework to study the causes and covariates of pediatric mortality [in Sub-Saharan Africa], and identifies situations when a single health intervention can have beneficial vertical (i.e. control of the targeted health problem) and horizontal (i.e. control of other health conditions not directly targeted by the program) effects. The framework is applied to a cohort of nearly 10,000 African live births...."
Correspondence: B. Kuate Defo, Université de Montréal, Département de Démographie, C.P. 6128, Succursale A, Montreal, Quebec H3C 3J7, Canada. Location: Princeton University Library (SPR).

64:20149 MacDorman, Marian F.; Atkinson, Jonnae O. Infant mortality statistics from the linked birth/infant death data set--1995 period data. NCHS Monthly Vital Statistics Report, Vol. 46, No. 6, Suppl. 2, Pub. Order No. DHHS (PHS) 98-1120. Feb 26, 1998. 24 pp. U.S. National Center for Health Statistics [NCHS]: Hyattsville, Maryland. In Eng.
"This report presents [U.S.] infant mortality statistics from the linked birth/infant death data set (linked file)-1995 period data by a variety of maternal and infant characteristics. Trends in birthweight-specific infant mortality rates from 1985-95 are also discussed." The results suggest that "in general, mortality rates were lowest for infants born to Asian and Pacific Islander mothers, followed by white, American Indian, and black mothers. Rates for infants of Hispanic origin mothers were slightly lower than or comparable to those for infants of white mothers, except for infants of Puerto Rican mothers who had higher infant mortality rates. Infant mortality rates were higher for those infants whose mothers began prenatal care after the first trimester of pregnancy, were teenagers or 40 years of age or older, did not complete high school, were unmarried, or smoked during pregnancy. Infant mortality was also higher for male infants, multiple births, and infants born preterm or at low birthweight."
Correspondence: U.S. National Center for Health Statistics, 6525 Belcrest Road, Hyattsville, MD 20782. E-mail: nchsquery@cdc.gov. Location: Princeton University Library (SPR).

64:20150 Madise, Nyovani J. Child mortality in Malawi: further evidence of death clustering within families. In: Population dynamics: some past and emerging issues, edited by Richard A. Powell, Eleuther A. Mwageni, and Augustine Ankomah. 1996. 27-35 pp. University of Exeter, Institute of Population Studies: Exeter, England. In Eng.
"In this paper the logistic normal model is used to identify the determinants of child mortality during the toddler and childhood periods in Malawi while controlling for death clustering within families. The data used are from the 1988 Malawi Traditional and Modern Methods of Child Spacing Survey." Results show that the length of the succeeding birth interval, the survival status of the preceding child, socioeconomic status, area of residence, and access to health care all influenced under-five mortality. Some families have a higher propensity to lose children, but the reasons were not clarified in this study.
Correspondence: N. J. Madise, University of Southampton, Department of Social Statistics, Southampton SO9 5NH, England. Location: British Library, Document Supply Centre, Wetherby, England.

64:20151 Pandey, R. N. Levels and patterns of infant and child mortality in Mongolia. Asia-Pacific Population Journal, Vol. 12, No. 3, Sep 1997. 49-64 pp. Bangkok, Thailand. In Eng.
"Various aspects of mortality in Mongolia are considered in this article, which analyses data from a large-scale demographic survey conducted in late 1994. Because of health improvements introduced into the country following the Second World War, Mongolia experienced a three-fold increase in its population between 1950 and 1990. However, the survey and other data show that the pace of rapid population growth has produced some ill effects. Short birth intervals, high birth orders and mother's young age at the time of giving birth have all increased mortality and morbidity risks."
Correspondence: R. N. Pandey, Central Statistics Office, Ministry of Planning, Private Bag 24, Gaborone, Botswana. Location: Princeton University Library (SPR).

64:20152 Ren, Xinhua S. Regional variation in infant survival in China. Social Biology, Vol. 43, No. 1-2, Spring-Summer 1996. 1-19 pp. Port Angeles, Washington. In Eng.
"From retrospective survey reports 1985-87, the study examined the determinants of neonatal and post-neonatal survival in three provinces in China. Conditional logistic regression models were employed to estimate the effects of macro- and micro-level factors (such as socioeconomic conditions, familial relationships, as well as biosocial determinants) on the survivorship of neonatal and post-neonatal infants in China. The study yielded two findings: (1) Social changes in Chinese society had a strong positive effect on neonatal and post-neonatal survivorship; and (2) the magnitude of such social changes differed across regions which, in turn, led to the differential effects on neonatal and post-neonatal survivorship across provinces in China."
Correspondence: X. S. Ren, Harvard School of Public Health, Boston, MA 02111. Location: Princeton University Library (SPR).

64:20153 Shakhatreh, Farouk M. N.; Abbas, Adnan A. H.; Issa, Abdalah A. Determinants of infant mortality and the use of maternity services in Jordan. Dirasat, Medical and Biological Sciences, Vol. 23, No. 2, 1996. 59-69 pp. Amman, Jordan. In Eng. with sum. in Ara.
"The 1990 Jordan Population and Family Health Survey (JPFHS) is analyzed by using [a] chi square test to explore some of the determinants of maternity care (antenatal and delivery) and infant death.... The findings presented in this study are compared with the findings of other studies to find out the improvement in the use of maternity services and to explore factors behind the use of such services and factors that affect infant mortality." Results indicate that some determining factors of non-clinic prenatal care and infant mortality are: living in a rural area, the mother's education and age at the birth, high parity, short birth interval, and low birthweight.
Correspondence: F. M. N. Shakhatreh, University of Jordan, Faculty of Medicine, Amman, Jordan. Location: Princeton University Library (SPR).

64:20154 Yoon, Paula W.; Black, Robert E.; Moulton, Lawrence H.; Becker, Stan. The effect of malnutrition on the risk of diarrheal and respiratory mortality in children < 2 y of age in Cebu, Philippines. American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, Vol. 65, No. 4, 1997. 1,070-7 pp. Bethesda, Maryland. In Eng.
"The effects of nutritional status on diarrheal and acute lower respiratory infection (ALRI) mortality in children <2 y [years] of age were examined by using data from a 1988-1991 longitudinal study of 9,942 children in Metro Cebu, Philippines.... Nutritional status as measured by weight-for-age was a significant risk factor for both ALRI and diarrheal mortality in the first 2 y of life.... This study provides further evidence that malnutrition is a major determinant of mortality in very young children and it is one of the first longitudinal studies to estimate the magnitude of the effect on cause-specific mortality associated with nutritional status."
Correspondence: R. E. Black, Johns Hopkins University, School of Hygiene and Public Health, Department of International Health, 615 North Wolfe Street, Baltimore, MD 21205. E-mail: Rblack@phnet.SPH.JHU.EDU. Location: Princeton University Library (SPR).

E.4. Mortality at Other Ages

Studies of age-specific mortality and of mortality in special groups defined by age.

64:20155 Andryszek, Czeslaw; Indulski, Janusz A.; Worach-Kardas, Halina. Dynamics and spatial differentiation of premature mortality in the population of productive age. [Dynamika i zróznicowanie przestrzenne umieralnosci przedwczesnej populacji w wieku produkcyjnym--przeslanki dla poglebionych badan przyczyn i uwarunkowan tego zjawiska.] Medycyna Pracy, Vol. 47, No. 6, 1996. 577-96 pp. Lódz, Poland. In Pol. with sum. in Eng.
The authors analyze trends in premature mortality among those under age 65 in Poland, with an emphasis on geographic differences. Some comparisons are made with the mortality ratio in Scandinavian and Western European countries. The focus is on adverse trends in male mortality in the period 1965-1991. Sex differences are also considered.
Correspondence: H. Worach-Kardas, 8 Sw. Teresy Street, P.O. Box 199, 90-950 Lódz, Poland. Location: Princeton University Library (SPR).

64:20156 Bicego, George. Estimating adult mortality rates in the context of the AIDS epidemic in Sub-Saharan Africa: analysis of DHS sibling histories. Health Transition Review, Vol. 7, Suppl., No. 2, 1997. 7-22 pp. Canberra, Australia. In Eng.
"Recent efforts to model the demographic effect of the AIDS pandemic in sub-Saharan Africa have far outnumbered empirical studies of adult mortality levels and patterns in AIDS-affected countries of the region. There is still a paucity of population-based data on adult mortality for nearly all countries in the region. Using data from recent Demographic and Health Surveys (DHS) of six countries and one in-depth DHS, this paper examines the use of sibling histories to directly estimate rates of adult mortality.... In general, the findings of the study demonstrate that DHS-type sibling histories represent a promising, relatively untapped source of data that will add to our understanding of adult mortality dynamics in Africa. The paper discusses some of the advantages and potential limitations of the data and derived mortality estimates."
Correspondence: G. Bicego, Macro International, Demographic and Health Surveys, 11785 Beltsville Drive, Calverton, MD 20705-3119. Location: Princeton University Library (SPR).

64:20157 Boerma, J. Ties; Ngalula, Juliana; Isingo, Raphael; Urassa, Mark; Senkoro, Kesheni P.; Gabone, R.; Mkumbo, E. N. Levels and causes of adult mortality in rural Tanzania with special reference to HIV/AIDS. Health Transition Review, Vol. 7, Suppl., No. 2, 1997. 63-74 pp. Canberra, Australia. In Eng.
"Data from a longitudinal study in northwest Tanzania were used to assess the levels of adult mortality and the leading causes of death. Adult mortality in this rural area was high and 42 per cent of persons aged 15 will die before their sixtieth birthday at current mortality rates. Mortality in this population with an HIV prevalence of about six per cent in 1994-95, has increased by about one-third because of HIV/AIDS, and further increase is likely. Other infectious diseases cause nearly a quarter of deaths and non-communicable diseases are still a relatively minor cause. The occurrence of the AIDS epidemic may have further delayed the onset of the epidemiological transition in many parts of Africa."
Correspondence: J. T. Boerma, Royal Tropical Institute, 63 Mauritskade, 1092 AD Amsterdam, Netherlands. Location: Princeton University Library (SPR).

64:20158 Fried, Linda P.; Kronmal, Richard A.; Newman, Anne B.; Bild, Diane E.; Mittelmark, Maurice B.; Polak, Joseph F.; Robbins, John A.; Gardin, Julius M. Risk factors for 5-year mortality in older adults: the cardiovascular health study. JAMA: Journal of the American Medical Association, Vol. 279, No. 8, Feb 25, 1998. 585-92 pp. Chicago, Illinois. In Eng.
The objective of this study was "to determine the disease, functional, and personal characteristics that jointly predict mortality in community-dwelling men and women aged 65 years or older [in the United States]." The study was designed as a prospective population-based cohort study with 5 years of follow-up; it also included a validation cohort of African Americans with a 4.25-year follow-up. There were 5,201 men and women aged 65 years or older in the original cohort, and 685 in the African-American validation cohort. The results indicated that "objective measures of subclinical disease and disease severity were independent and joint predictors of 5-year mortality in older adults, along with male sex, relative poverty, physical activity, smoking, indicators of frailty, and disability. Except for history of congestive heart failure, objective, quantitative measures of disease were better predictors of mortality than was clinical history of disease."
Correspondence: L. P. Fried, Welch Center for Prevention, Epidemiology and Clinical Research, 2024 East Monument Street, Suite 2-600, Baltimore, MD 21205. Location: Princeton University Library (SZ).

64:20159 Gunnell, David J.; Davey Smith, George; Frankel, Stephen; Nanchahal, Kiran; Braddon, Fiona E. M.; Pemberton, John; Peters, Tim J. Childhood leg length and adult mortality: follow up of the Carnegie (Boyd Orr) Survey of Diet and Health in pre-war Britain. Journal of Epidemiology and Community Health, Vol. 52, No. 3, Mar 1998. 142-52 pp. London, England. In Eng.
The authors "investigate the relation between childhood height, its components--leg length and trunk length--and mortality in adulthood [in England and Scotland].... Leg length was the component of childhood height most strongly associated with socioeconomic and dietary exposures. There was no significant relation between childhood height and overall mortality. Height-mortality relations were observed in relation to both coronary heart disease (CHD) and cancer. Leg length was the component of height most strongly related to cause specific mortality."
Correspondence: D. J. Gunnell, University of Bristol, Canynge Hall, Department of Social Medicine, Whiteladies Road, Bristol BS8 2PR, England. Location: Princeton University Library (SPR).

64:20160 Kelly, Paul; Feldman, Roger; Ndubani, Phillimon; Baboo, K. Sri; Timæus, Ian; Farthing, Michael J. G.; Wallman, Sandra. High adult mortality in Lusaka. Lancet, Vol. 351, No. 9106, Mar 21, 1998. 883 pp. New York, New York/London, England. In Eng.
This one-page article analyzes adult mortality in Lusaka, Zambia, using data from a 1995 survey of 2,258 households. The results indicate high levels of mortality in this urban population, which the authors suggest are primarily associated with the prevalence of HIV infections.
Correspondence: P. Kelly, Royal London School of Medicine and Dentistry, London E1 2AD, England. Location: Princeton University Library (SZ).

64:20161 Liu, Xian; Hermalin, Albert I.; Chuang, Yi-Li. The effect of education on mortality among older Taiwanese and its pathways. Journals of Gerontology: Social Sciences, Vol. 53, No. 2, Mar 1998. 71-82 pp. Washington, D.C. In Eng.
"The present research examines the impact of education on the mortality of older Taiwanese during a 4-year interval from April 1989 to April 1993. Data...come from the Taiwan Survey of Health and Living Status of the Elderly (1989). The research decomposes the effect of education into the direct effect and the indirect effects by means of health status, health behaviors, and social relationships. We have shown that, of the total effect of educational attainment on the mortality of older Taiwanese, about 83% represents indirect influences by means of the 3 mediating factors, particularly health status. On the other hand, the magnitude of the direct effect...is low and not statistically significant. The results demonstrate that the apparent strong effect of education on mortality among older Taiwanese can be accounted for parsimoniously through 3 major pathways."
Correspondence: X. Liu, Walter Reed Army Medical Center, 6900 Georgia Avenue NW, Building 2, Ward 64, Washington, D.C. 20307. E-mail: xian.liu@wramcl.amedd.army.mil. Location: Princeton University Library (SW).

64:20162 Martelin, Tuija; Koskinen, Seppo; Valkonen, Tapani. Sociodemographic mortality differences among the oldest old in Finland. Journals of Gerontology: Social Sciences, Vol. 53, No. 2, Mar 1998. 83-90 pp. Washington, D.C. In Eng.
"This study examined mortality differences and trends by several sociodemographic characteristics among the Finnish elderly aged 80 years or over during the period of 1971-90. The analyses were based on comprehensive data sets compiled by means of linking individual death records and census records for the entire population of Finland. Poisson regression was applied as the main statistical tool. For both sexes, life expectancy at age 80 was about 1 year longer among those with a higher education than among those with basic education. A similar difference was found between former upper nonmanual workers and manual workers. Slightly lower than average mortality was observed among the married, among those living in Western Finland, and among the Swedish-speaking population. Mortality declined during the study period in all subgroups, with no consistent signs of either convergence of divergence of mortality levels. The results suggest that at least some further decline of mortality even among the oldest old is possible."
Correspondence: T. Martelin, University of Helsinki, Department of Sociology, Population Research Unit, P.O. Box 18 (Unioninkatu 35), 00014 Helsinki, Finland. E-mail: Tuija.Martelin@Helsinki.fi. Location: Princeton University Library (SW).

64:20163 Timæus, Ian M.; Nunn, Andrew J. Measurement of adult mortality in populations affected by AIDS: an assessment of the orphanhood method. Health Transition Review, Vol. 7, Suppl., No. 2, 1997. 23-43 pp. Canberra, Australia. In Eng.
"This paper demonstrates that orphanhood data can be used to estimate adult women's mortality in populations experiencing an epidemic of AIDS. It develops both a correction for selection bias in reports of orphanhood and a revised procedure for estimating life table survivorship for use in populations with significant AIDS mortality. These new methods yield mortality estimates for a Ugandan population that are consistent with those obtained by prospective surveillance. Countries that lack effective death registration systems should ask about the survival of mothers in the census and surveys in order to monitor the effect of the AIDS epidemic on mortality."
Correspondence: I. M. Timæus, London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, Centre for Population Studies, Keppel Street, London WC1E 7HT, England. Location: Princeton University Library (SPR).

E.5. Life Tables

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.

64:20164 Barendregt, Jan J.; van Oortmarssen, Gerrit J.; van Hout, Ben A.; van den Bosch, Jacqueline M.; Bonneux, Luc. Coping with multiple morbidity in a life table. Mathematical Population Studies, Vol. 7, No. 1, 1998. 29-49, 109 pp. Amsterdam, Netherlands. In Eng. with sum. in Fre.
"We present the proportional multi-state life table method, that makes the inclusion of multiple diseases better manageable and allows for comorbidity implicitly, without the need to define additional states. We implement the method for heart disease and stroke [among Dutch males in 1988], and look at the effect of hypothetical but not unrealistic changes in incidence and survival on disease prevalence and comorbidity. Finally we discuss limitations and extensions of the method."
Correspondence: J. J. Barendregt, Erasmus University, Department of Public Health, P.O. Box 1738, 3000 DR Rotterdam, Netherlands. E-mail: barendregt@mgz.fgg.eur.nl. Location: Princeton University Library (SPR).

64:20165 Spelta, Dario. Survival functions and life tables at the origins of actuarial mathematics. [Le funzioni di sopravvivenza e le tavole di mortalità agli albori della tecnica attuariale.] Statistica, Vol. 57, No. 2, Apr-Jun 1997. 211-20 pp. Bologna, Italy. In Ita. with sum. in Eng.
"In the determination of death probabilities of an insured subject one can use either statistical data or a mathematical function. In this paper a survey of the relationship between mortality tables and survival functions from the origins until the first half of the nineteenth century is presented. The author has tried to find the methodological grounds which have induced the actuaries to prefer either of these tools."
Location: Princeton University Library (SPR).

64:20166 Tas, R. F. J. Period life tables for the Netherlands by sex and age, 1991-1995. [Periode-overlevingstafels naar geslacht en leeftijd, 1991-1995.] Maandstatistiek van de Bevolking, Vol. 46, No. 1, Jan 1998. 8-13 pp. Voorburg, Netherlands. In Dut. with sum. in Eng.
"About two out of three age-specific mortality quotients based on observations [in the Netherlands] during 1991-1995 are lower than the corresponding quotients for 1986-1990. The decrease in mortality risk is strongest in the lower ages and generally more pronounced for males than for females. Expectation of life at birth for boys rose from 73.6 years in 1986-1990 to 74.3 years in 1991-1995. For girls a somewhat smaller increase has taken place (from 80.0 to 80.2 years)."
Location: Princeton University Library (SPR).

64:20167 United Nations. Centro Latinoamericano de Demografía [CELADE] (Santiago, Chile). Latin America: life tables, 1950-2025. [América Latina: tablas de mortalidad, 1950-2025.] Boletín Demográfico/Demographic Bulletin, Vol. 31, No. 61, Pub. Order No. LC/DEM/G.175. Jan 1998. 345 pp. Santiago, Chile. In Eng; Spa.
Abridged life tables are presented for 20 Latin American countries by sex and five-year age group for the period 1950-2025.
Correspondence: UN Centro Latinoamericano de Demografía, Edificio Naciones Unidas, Avenida Dag Hammarskjold, Casilla 91, Santiago, Chile. Location: Princeton University Library (SPR).

64:20168 United States. National Center for Health Statistics [NCHS] (Hyattsville, Maryland). U.S. decennial life tables for 1989-91. Volume II, state life tables, Number 48, Washington. Pub. Order No. DHHS (PHS) 98-1151-48. LC 85-600190. May 1998. iv, 33 pp. Hyattsville, Maryland. In Eng.
This is one in a series of reports that present life tables for individual U.S. states. Each of the 51 reports in Volume II "contains life tables for a particular State and a table that ranks each State in the order of life expectancy. All States have tables for the total population and the white population by sex. In addition, 40 States have tables for the other than white population and 33 have tables for the black population. Standard error tables for the probability of dying and of the average remaining life-time are included."
Correspondence: U.S. Government Printing Office, Superintendent of Documents, Mail Stop SSOP, Washington, D.C. 20402-9328. Location: Princeton University Library (SPR).

64:20169 United States. National Center for Health Statistics [NCHS] (Hyattsville, Maryland). Vital statistics of the United States, 1994. Preprint of Volume II, mortality, part A, section 6: life tables. Pub. Order No. DHHS (PHS) 98-1104. ISBN 0-16-048039-6. Mar 1998. iv, 18 pp. Hyattsville, Maryland. In Eng.
"The life tables in this report are current abridged life tables for the United States based on age-specific death rates in 1994. The data used to prepare these abridged life tables are 1994 final mortality statistics and July 1, 1994, population estimates. Presented are tables showing life expectancy and survivorship by age, race, and sex. In 1994 the overall expectation of life at birth was 75.7 years, an increase of 0.2 years compared with life expectancy in 1993."
Correspondence: U.S. Government Printing Office, Superintendent of Documents, Mail Stop SSOP, Washington, D.C. 20402-9328. Location: Princeton University Library (SPR).

E.6. Differential Mortality

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.

64:20170 Alderman, Michael H.; Cohen, Hillel; Madhavan, Shantha. Dietary sodium intake and mortality: the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES I). Lancet, Vol. 351, No. 9105, Mar 14, 1998. 781-5 pp. New York, New York/London, England. In Eng.
The relation between sodium intake and subsequent all-cause and cardiovascular-disease mortality was examined using data for a general population of 11,346 adults aged 25-75 originally interviewed between 1971 and 1975 and followed up to 1992. Data are from the U.S. National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES I). Analysis of the data concerning the 3,923 deaths that occurred revealed no association between salt intake and mortality.
Correspondence: M. H. Alderman, Albert Einstein College of Medicine, Department of Epidemiology and Social Medicine, 1300 Morris Park Avenue, Bronx, NY 10461. E-mail: alderman@aecom.yu.edu. Location: Princeton University Library (SZ).

64:20171 Anilkumar, K.; Rema, S. Sex differentials in Indian mortality: recent changes and implications for sex ratio. Janasamkhya, Vol. 12, No. 1-2, 1994. 133-50 pp. Kariavattom, India. In Eng.
"In this paper, the recent changes in sex differentials in India's mortality are studied first to ascertain the relative improvements and secondly to study the impact of these changes on [the] sex ratio of the population. The analysis...indicates that the reduction in mortality rates during 1971-1991 was higher for females, particularly...during 1981-91. The narrowing down of the gap between male and female mortality rates had started in the late 1970s and all the indicators considered here suggest that, at present, there is an excess of male mortality in India. The mortality change was favourable for improvement in sex ratio; the analysis shows that the changes in mortality differentials by sex alone would have led to an increase in sex ratio by more than 10 points during the last decade. Further analysis suggests that the sex ratio at birth in India changed considerably during the last decade and [that] most of the reduction in sex ratio [that] occurred during 1981-91 can be attributed to these changes."
Correspondence: K. Anilkumar, Tata Institute of Social Sciences, Unit for Child and Youth Research, Sion-Trombay Road, Deonar, Mumbai 400 088, India. Location: Princeton University Library (SPR).

64:20172 Bah, Sulaiman. Assessing the contribution of age-sex differentials in causes of death due to infectious and parasitic diseases to the trends in age-sex differentials in life expectancy in Mauritius. Population Studies Centre Discussion Paper, No. 97-8, ISBN 0-7714-2048-X. Mar 1997. 27 pp. University of Western Ontario, Population Studies Centre: London, Canada. In Eng.
"The paper is a technical study based upon the application of two methodologies to Mauritian life tables and cause of death data.... The findings...support earlier findings about the importance of the period 1969-1976 in the mortality transition experienced in Mauritius. This was the period in which sex differentials in life expectancies reached a peak level and the results suggest that the driving force behind those sex differentials in life expectancy was the sex differential in mortality in infectious and parasitic diseases first among the young ages below 10 years followed by the older ages above 50 years."
This is a revised version of a paper originally presented at the 1997 Annual Meeting of the Population Association of America.
Correspondence: University of Western Ontario, Population Studies Centre, London, Ontario N6A 5C2, Canada. E-mail: Sulaimanb@css.pwv.gov.za. Location: Princeton University Library (SPR).

64:20173 Butler, Steven M.; Snowdon, David A. Trends in mortality in older women: findings from the Nun Study. Journals of Gerontology: Social Sciences, Vol. 51, No. 4, Jul 1996. 201-8 pp. Washington, D.C. In Eng.
"During this century, Catholic sisters have remained constant in many life-style characteristics such as smoking and reproduction (Catholic sisters are nonsmoking and nulliparous). It is therefore of interest to compare trends in the health of elderly Catholic sisters to those in the general population. In this study, mortality rates at ages 50 to 84 years in a population of 2,573 Catholic sisters were compared to those in the general population during the years 1965 to 1989. The Catholic sisters had a mortality advantage that increased dramatically over calendar time, and from early to more recent birth cohorts. This coincided with increases in smoking by U.S. women, while during the same time period the Catholic sisters had very low rates of mortality from smoking-related diseases. The Catholic sisters had high rates of mortality from cancers of the breast and reproductive organs, suggesting an effect of nulliparity manifested in older women."
Correspondence: D. A. Snowdon, University of Kentucky, Sanders-Brown Center on Aging, The Nun Study, 101 Sanders-Brown Building, Lexington, KY 40506-0230. Location: Princeton University Library (SW).

64:20174 Davey Smith, George; Hart, Carole; Hole, David; MacKinnon, Pauline; Gillis, Charles; Watt, Graham; Blane, David; Hawthorne, Victor. Education and occupational social class: which is the more important indicator of mortality risk? Journal of Epidemiology and Community Health, Vol. 52, No. 3, Mar 1998. 153-60 pp. London, England. In Eng.
"The objective of this analysis is to demonstrate the profile of mortality differentials, and the factors underlying these differentials, which are associated with [occupational social class and education in the United Kingdom].... As a single indicator of socioeconomic position occupational social class in adulthood is a better discriminator of socioeconomic differentials in mortality and smoking behaviour than is education. This argues against interpretations that see cultural--rather than material--resources as being the key determinants of socioeconomic differentials in health."
Correspondence: G. Davey Smith, University of Bristol, Canynge Hall, Department of Social Medicine, Whiteladies Road, Bristol BS8 2PR, England. Location: Princeton University Library (SPR).

64:20175 Davey Smith, George; Neaton, James D.; Wentworth, Deborah; Stamler, Rose; Stamler, Jeremiah. Mortality differences between black and white men in the USA: contribution of income and other risk factors among men screened for the MRFIT. Lancet, Vol. 351, No. 9107, Mar 28, 1998. 934-9 pp. New York, New York/London, England. In Eng.
The extent to which differences in socioeconomic position between black and white men in the United States contribute to differences in all-cause and cause-specific mortality is examined using data on some 320,000 men screened for the Multiple Risk Factor Intervention Trial between 1973 and 1975. The results suggest that "socioeconomic position is the major contributor to differences in death rates between black and white men. Differentials in mortality from some specific causes do not simply reflect differences in income, however, and more detailed investigations are needed of how differences are influenced by environmental exposures, lifetime socioeconomic conditions, lifestyle, racism, and other sociocultural and biological factors."
Correspondence: G. Davey Smith, University of Bristol, Department of Social Medicine, Canynge Hall, Bristol BS8 2PR, England. Location: Princeton University Library (SZ).

64:20176 Diehr, Paula; Bild, Diane E.; Harris, Tamara B.; Duxbury, Andrew; Siscovick, David; Rossi, Michelle. Body mass index and mortality in nonsmoking older adults: the Cardiovascular Health Study. American Journal of Public Health, Vol. 88, No. 4, Apr 1998. 623-9 pp. Washington, D.C. In Eng.
The relationship between body mass index and mortality is examined using logistic regression analyses in a cohort of 4,317 nonsmoking U.S. men and women aged 65 to 100. Data are from the Cardiovascular Health Study, a longitudinal study that began in 1989, designed to identify factors associated with coronary heart disease and stroke. "The association between higher body mass index and mortality often found in middle-aged populations was not observed in this large cohort of older adults. Overweight does not seem to be a risk factor for 5-year mortality in this age group. Rather, the risks associated with significant weight loss should be the primary concern."
Correspondence: P. Diehr, University of Washington, Department of Biostatistics, Box 357232, Seattle, WA 98195. Location: Princeton University Library (SZ).

64:20177 Durazo-Arvizu, Ramón A.; McGee, Daniel L.; Cooper, Richard S.; Liao, Youlian; Luke, Amy. Mortality and optimal body mass index in a sample of the U.S. population. American Journal of Epidemiology, Vol. 147, No. 8, Apr 15, 1998. 739-49 pp. Baltimore, Maryland. In Eng.
"In this paper, the authors model the nonmonotonic relation between body mass index (BMI)...and mortality in 13,242 [U.S.] black and white participants in the NHANES I Epidemiologic Follow-up Study in order to estimate the BMI at which minimum mortality occurs.... The authors determined the range of values over which risk of all-cause mortality would increase no more than 20% in comparison with the minimum. This interval was nine BMI units wide, and it included 70% of the population. These results were confirmed by parallel analyses using quantiles. The model used allowed the estimation of parameters in the BMI-mortality relation. The resulting empirical findings from each of four race/sex groups, which are representative of the U.S. population, demonstrate a wide range of BMIs consistent with minimum mortality and do not suggest that the optimal BMI is at the lower end of the distribution for any subgroup."
Correspondence: R. A. Durazo-Arvizu, Loyola University, Stritch School of Medicine, Department of Preventive Medicine and Epidemiology, Maywood, IL 60153. Location: Princeton University Library (SZ).

64:20178 Garenne, Michel; Lafon, Monique. Sexist diseases. Perspectives in Biology and Medicine, Vol. 41, No. 2, Winter 1998. 176-89 pp. Chicago, Illinois. In Eng.
"The goals of this study were (1) to systematically search for groups of infectious diseases showing different male and female mortality during late childhood and early adulthood, (2) to investigate the characteristics of the Th-1 and Th-2 [lymphocyte] responses to certain infectious diseases, and (3) to test the plausibility of the sex hormones explanation. This hypothesis linking the hormonal and the immunological systems and the way the body copes with infectious diseases could explain both the direction and the changing pattern of gender differences in mortality by age."
Correspondence: M. Garenne, Centre Français sur la Population et le Développement, 15 rue de l'Ecole de Médecine, 75270 Paris Cedex 06, France. Location: Princeton University Library (SPR).

64:20179 Goldstein, Sidney. Changes in Jewish mortality and survival, 1963-1987. Social Biology, Vol. 43, No. 1-2, Spring-Summer 1996. 72-97 pp. Port Angeles, Washington. In Eng.
"From information on mortality of Jews obtained from individual death certificates and population data from surveys of the Jewish population undertaken in 1963 and 1987, age-specific death rates and life expectancy of the Jewish population of Rhode Island are compared with those of the total white population for 1963 and 1987 to assess changing differentials. The Jewish mortality experience continues to differ from that of the larger population even while both groups have experienced noticeable improvements.... Reasons for these patterns are explored through attention to differences between Jews and the general white population in death rates at particular stages of the life cycle. Jews tend to be more advantaged at all but the most advanced ages, age groups in which proportionally more of the Jewish population and Jewish deaths are concentrated."
Correspondence: S. Goldstein, Brown University, Population Studies and Training Center, Box 1916, Providence, RI 02912. Location: Princeton University Library (SPR).

64:20180 Guest, Avery M.; Almgren, Gunnar; Hussey, Jon M. The ecology of race and socioeconomic distress: infant and working-age mortality in Chicago. Demography, Vol. 35, No. 1, Feb 1998. 23-34 pp. Silver Spring, Maryland. In Eng.
"We examine the effects of education, unemployment, and racial segregation on age-, sex-, and race-specific mortality rates in racially defined Chicago community areas from 1989 to 1991. Community socioeconomic factors account for large observed areal variations in infant and working-age mortality, but especially working-age mortality for the black population. For black men, the mortality consequences of living in economically distressed communities are quite severe. Segregation effects on mortality are more modest and largely operate through neighborhood socioeconomic conditions, although some direct effects of segregation on mortality for blacks are apparent." Data are from state death records for the period 1989-1991, which are linked to 1990 census data.
This is a revised version of a paper originally presented at the 1995 Annual Meeting of the Population Association of America.
Correspondence: A. M. Guest, University of Washington, Department of Sociology, Seattle, WA 98195. E-mail: peto@homer.u.washington.edu. Location: Princeton University Library (SPR).

64:20181 Hajdu, Piroska; McKee, Martin; Bojan, Ferenc. Changes in premature mortality differentials by marital status in Hungary and in England and Wales. European Journal of Public Health, Vol. 5, No. 4, Dec 1995. 259-64 pp. Oxford, England. In Eng.
"We describe a comparison of patterns of mortality by marital status in Hungary and in England and Wales. This demonstrates that increases in premature mortality in Hungary have been greatest among men who are widowed, have never married and, in particular, are divorced, with married men appearing to have been relatively protected. Among women, the greatest increase has been among widows. We explore competing explanations for this difference and conclude that economic factors are likely to have been of major importance."
Correspondence: P. Hajdu, Medical University of Debrecen, School of Public Health, P.O. Box 2, 4012 Debrecen, Hungary. E-mail: p.hajdu@sph.dote.hu. Location: Princeton University Library (SPR).

64:20182 Hart, Kevin D.; Kunitz, Stephen J.; Sell, Ralph R.; Mukamel, Dana B. Metropolitan governance, residential segregation, and mortality among African Americans. American Journal of Public Health, Vol. 88, No. 3, Mar 1998. 434-8 pp. Washington, D.C. In Eng.
The relationship between metropolitanization and mortality among African Americans in the United States is analyzed using data from 114 standard metropolitan statistical areas for 1991-1992 taken from the NCHS Mortality Detail Files and the census. The results confirm the finding that segregation is positively associated with mortality among adult African Americans. The results also indicate that less metropolitanization is associated with more segregation.
Correspondence: K. D. Hart, 601 Elmwood Avenue, Box 644, Rochester, NY 14642. Location: Princeton University Library (SZ).

64:20183 Hayward, Mark D.; Pienta, Amy M.; McLaughlin, Diane K. Inequality in men's mortality: the socioeconomic status gradient and geographic context. Journal of Health and Social Behavior, Vol. 38, No. 4, Dec 1997. 313-30 pp. Washington, D.C. In Eng.
"Lower mortality for older rural Americans, compared to urban residents, runs counter to rural-urban disparities in health care services and residents' socioeconomic resources.... Drawing on 24 years of data from the National Longitudinal Survey of Older Men, we observe that rural older men's life expectancy advantages occur even after controlling for residential differences in social class and lifestyle factors. Our results also show that rural advantages in mortality coincide with a more equitable distribution of life chances across the social classes. The association between social class and mortality is strongest among urban men, arising from socioeconomic conditions throughout the life cycle."
Correspondence: M. D. Hayward, Pennsylvania State University, Population Research Institute, 501 Oswald Tower, University Park, PA 16802-6210. E-mail: hayward@pop.psu.edu. Location: Princeton University Library (SPR).

64:20184 Liao, Youlian; Cooper, Richard S.; Cao, Guichan; Durazo-Arvizu, Ramon; Kaufman, Jay S.; Luke, Amy; McGee, Daniel L. Mortality patterns among adult Hispanics: findings from the NHIS, 1986 to 1990. American Journal of Public Health, Vol. 88, No. 2, Feb 1998. 227-32 pp. Washington, D.C. In Eng.
The mortality pattern of the adult Hispanic population of the United States is assessed using data from the National Health Interview Survey for the period 1986-1990, and ascertaining deaths by matching to the National Death Index through 1991. The authors conclude that "longitudinal cohorts provide an important source of health status information on Hispanics. [The] results suggest that overall mortality is lower among Hispanics than among non-Hispanic Whites, especially in the oldest age group. Among younger and middle-aged persons, the mortality of Hispanics is similar to or even higher than that of Whites."
Correspondence: Y. Liao, Loyola University, Stritch School of Medicine, Department of Preventive Medicine and Epidemiology, 2160 South First Avenue, Maywood, IL 60153. Location: Princeton University Library (SZ).

64:20185 Llorca, Javier; Prieto, M. Dolores; Fariñas Alvarez, C.; Delgado-Rodriguez, Miguel. Age differential mortality in Spain, 1900-1991. Journal of Epidemiology and Community Health, Vol. 52, No. 4, Apr 1998. 259-61 pp. London, England. In Eng.
The authors "analyse the interindividual inequalities in mortality in Spain through the 20th century using the Gini coefficient.... Age mortality data were obtained from official publications of vital statistics and age and sex compositions were obtained from population census.... In both men and women there was a trend to decrease age differential mortality (from 0.26 to 0.16 for men and from 0.26 to 0.12 for women). Nevertheless, transitory increases were produced in 1918 (influenza epidemic), and in the period of the Civil War of Spain, showing a more important increase in the mortality of young people than that of the elderly. A new increase was observed through the second half of [the] eighties; it resulted from an AIDS epidemic and motor vehicle injuries."
Correspondence: J. Llorca, University of Cantabria School of Medicine, Division of Preventive Medicine and Public Health, Av. Cardenal Herrera Oria s/n, 39011-Santander, Spain. Location: Princeton University Library (SPR).

64:20186 Marang-van de Mheen, Perla J.; Davey Smith, George; Hart, Carole L.; Gunning-Schepers, Louise J. Socioeconomic differentials in mortality among men within Great Britain: time trends and contributory causes. Journal of Epidemiology and Community Health, Vol. 52, No. 4, Apr 1998. 214-8 pp. London, England. In Eng.
The authors "assess the size of mortality differentials in men by social class in Scotland as compared with England and Wales, and...analyse the time trends in these differentials [using data on] men from England and Wales and Scotland around each census from 1951 to 1981.... Inequality, as indexed by the relative index of inequality, increased over time in both Scotland and England and Wales, but to a greater degree in Scotland, resulting in greater social class mortality differentials for Scotland in 1981.... This greater increase in the magnitude of inequalities in all cause mortality in Scotland seemed to result from increasing social class differentials in cardiovascular disease, accidents and external causes, and `all other causes of death'."
Correspondence: P. J. Marang-van de Mheen, Academic Medical Center, Department of Social Medicine, Meibergdreef 15, 1105 AZ Amsterdam, Netherlands. Location: Princeton University Library (SPR).

64:20187 Meslé, France; Hertrich, Véronique. Mortality trends in Europe: the differences between East and West are growing. [Evolution de la mortalité en Europe: la divergence s'accentue entre l'Est et l'Ouest.] In: International Population Conference/Congrès International de la Population: Beijing, 1997, Volume 2. 1997. 479-508 pp. International Union for the Scientific Study of Population [IUSSP]: Liège, Belgium. In Fre. with sum. in Eng.
This analysis of mortality trends in Europe since the 1960s is based on data from six representative countries: Hungary, Poland, Russia, the Ukraine, France, and the United Kingdom. The authors conclude that "the divergence between East and West is related to two different factors: the health deterioration at adult ages, specially for men, in Eastern countries and the important decrease of mortality at older ages, specially for women, in Western countries.... Trends in cardiovascular mortality and in violent deaths are the most responsible for those changes...."
Correspondence: F. Meslé, Institut National d'Etudes Démographiques, 133 boulevard Davout, 75020 Paris, France. E-mail: ined@ined.fr. Location: Princeton University Library (SPR).

64:20188 Oba, Tamotsu. Long-term prediction of age-specific mortality with a multivariate autoregressive model. Jinko Mondai Kenkyu/Journal of Population Problems, Vol. 53, No. 1, 1997. 45-63 pp. Tokyo, Japan. In Jpn. with sum. in Eng.
"Age and sex-specific mortality rates from 1995 to 2030 in Japan were predicted with [a] multivariate autoregressive (MAR) model.... The result suggested that...male life expectancy will reach 81.9 years in 2030, and...female life expectancy will reach 88.8 years in 2016 and thereafter decrease slowly.... The declining speed of...female mortality for 20 to 65 years old will be slower [than that for males and] their mortality will increase."
Location: Princeton University Library (SPR).

64:20189 Pearce, Neil; Bethwaite, Peter. Social class and male cancer mortality in New Zealand, 1984-7. New Zealand Medical Journal, Vol. 110, No. 1045, Jun 13, 1997. 200-2 pp. Wellington, New Zealand. In Eng.
"Social class differences in cancer mortality among New Zealand men aged 15-64 years are examined for the period 1984-7.... The strongest social class mortality gradients were found for cancers of the larynx, liver, buccal cavity/pharynx, oesophagus, lung and for soft tissue sarcoma. On the other hand, rectal cancer, malignant melanoma, colon cancer, brain/nervous system cancers, and multiple myeloma showed higher death rates for the more advantaged socioeconomic groups."
Correspondence: N. Pearce, Wellington School of Medicine, Department of Medicine, Asthma Research Group, P.O. Box 7343, Wellington South, New Zealand. Location: Princeton University Library (SPR).

64:20190 Pieris, Indrani; Caldwell, Bruce. Gender and health in Sri Lanka. Health Transition Review, Vol. 7, No. 2, Oct 1997. 173-86 pp. Canberra, Australia. In Eng.
"Sri Lanka has today easily the longest life-expectancy of any nation in South Asia. The country's achievements have been particularly impressive in the health of women and girls who have substantially lower mortality levels than males.... It has been suggested that low female mortality may reflect a high involvement of Sri Lankan women in decision-making over health care and feeding practices which has benefited their health and that of their children, especially their daughters.... The paper explores the issues involved, concluding that the autonomy of women has contributed to the decline of overall mortality, once modern health services developed. However, women's autonomy has not in itself overcome the sex differential in care, given the economic dependence of women and their families on males: husbands while the women are raising children and ultimately sons for old-age support."
Correspondence: I. Pieris, International Centre for Diarrhoeal Disease Research, Bangladesh, ANU Joint Research Project, G.P.O. Box 128, Dhaka 1000, Bangladesh. Location: Princeton University Library (SPR).

64:20191 Saxena, Prem C.; Kumar, Dhirendra. Differential risk of mortality among pensioners after retirement in the state of Maharashtra, India. Genus, Vol. 53, No. 1-2, Jan-Jun 1997. 113-28 pp. Rome, Italy. In Eng. with sum. in Ita; Fre.
The authors investigate the adverse effects of mandatory retirement on the health and mortality patterns of civil government employees in India. "This study focuses on pensioners who left the service at the normal retirement age and uses a new set of data compiled from Pension Payment Orders (PPOs) [of] Government Treasury records. The results of survival analysis revealed that the risk of mortality was relatively high after retirement for those who retired from police service, followed by occupations which involved dealing with the public and administration, as compared to retired from clerical and other similar occupations."
Correspondence: P. C. Saxena, American University of Beirut, Faculty of Health Sciences, Department of Population Studies, Beirut, Lebanon. E-mail: psaxena@aub.edu.lb. Location: Princeton University Library (SPR).

64:20192 Seccareccia, Fulvia; Lanti, Mariapaola; Menotti, Alessandro; Scanga, Marina. Role of body mass index in the prediction of all cause mortality in over 62,000 men and women. The Italian RIFLE Pooling Project. Journal of Epidemiology and Community Health, Vol. 52, No. 1, Jan 1998. 20-6 pp. London, England. In Eng.
The authors "evaluate the relation of body mass index (BMI) to short-term mortality in a large Italian population sample [using data from] the Italian RIFLE pooling project.... The univariate analysis failed to demonstrate in all cases a U or inverse J shaped relation. The Cox coefficients for the linear and quadratic terms of BMI proved significant for both young and mature women.... [The] uncommon high values of BMI carrying the minimum risk of death seems to be in contrast with weight guidelines."
Correspondence: F. Seccareccia, Istituto Superiore di Sanità, Laboratorio di Epidemiologia e Biostatistica, Viale Regina Elena 299, 00161 Rome, Italy. Location: Princeton University Library (SPR).

64:20193 Smith, Ken R.; Zick, Cathleen D. Risk of mortality following widowhood: age and sex differences by mode of death. Social Biology, Vol. 43, No. 1-2, Spring-Summer 1996. 59-71 pp. Port Angeles, Washington. In Eng.
"This study examines how spouses' deaths from sudden or lengthy illnesses differentially affect the mortality risks of surviving widows and widowers by age. Using the [U.S.] Panel Study of Income Dynamics, we find the mortality risk differs by gender, age, and type of widowhood. For nonelderly (<65) widowers, there is an elevated risk when their wives died suddenly. For older...widows, the mortality risk is lower than that of comparably aged married women when their husbands died after a long-term illness. These gender, age, and mode-of-death differences are consistent with role theory and theories of social support."
Correspondence: K. R. Smith, University of Utah, Department of Family and Consumer Studies, 228 AEB, Salt Lake City, UT 84112. E-mail: smith@fcs.utah.edu. Location: Princeton University Library (SPR).

64:20194 Swanson, David A.; McGehee, Mary A. Socioeconomic status, race and life expectancy in Arkansas, 1970-1990. Journal of the Arkansas Medical Society, Vol. 93, No. 9, Feb 1997. 445-7 pp. Little Rock, Arkansas. In Eng.
"Earlier research found that high socioeconomic populations in Arkansas experienced an increase in mean life expectancy over low socioeconomic populations between 1970 and 1990. The possibility that these findings are spurious because of race is tested in this paper. Using multivariate analysis in conjunction with estimates of life expectancy by race and socioeconomic status (SES) we find that between 1970 and 1990: (1) Black populations with high SES gained more than three additional years of life expectancy over Black populations with low SES; and (2) White populations with high SES gained more than .5 years of life expectancy over White populations with low SES. These findings support earlier findings that SES plays an instrumental role in differential life expectancy. They also suggest that the effects of SES on life expectancy are moderated differentially for Blacks and Whites."
Correspondence: D. A. Swanson, Portland State University, School of Urban and Public Affairs, Center for Population Research and Census, Portland, OR 97207-0751. E-mail: DSwa697646@aol.com. Location: Princeton University Library (SPR).

64:20195 Trovato, Frank; Lalu, N. M. Narrowing sex differentials in life expectancy in the industrialized world: early 1970s to early 1990s. Social Biology, Vol. 43, No. 1-2, Spring-Summer 1996. 20-37 pp. Port Angeles, Washington. In Eng.
The authors investigate the narrowing of sex differentials in life expectancy in industrialized countries since the early 1970s. "We investigate three questions: The first deals with the association of men and women's changes in life expectancy over time to convergence in life expectancy at age zero.... A second objective is to study the association between country levels of socioeconomic development...and the amount of convergence in life expectancy between men and women in the industrialized world.... A third aspect of this study is to explore this possible relationship by examining changes in age-sex-specific death rates over time and their association with changes in life expectancy."
Correspondence: F. Trovato, University of Alberta, Department of Sociology, Population Research Laboratory, Edmonton, Alberta T6G 2H4, Canada. Location: Princeton University Library (SPR).

64:20196 Warren, Christian. Northern chills, southern fevers: race-specific mortality in American cities, 1730-1900. Journal of Southern History, Vol. 63, No. 1, Feb 1997. 23-56 pp. Houston, Texas. In Eng.
The author analyzes U.S. mortality trends by race from 1730 to 1900 "using race-specific mortality data from northern and southern cities. [The article] begins with a description of differential mortality over latitude, then considers time--over seasons, years, and decades. The bulk of the article analyzes factors contributing to these reported racial differences, including housing, diet, medical care, economics, as well as epidemiological and hereditary differences. The article concludes by weighing the contribution of health in the formation of the nation's regionally `split personality'."
Location: Princeton University Library (SH).

E.7. Mortality by Cause

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.

64:20197 Aguirre, Alejandro. Maternal mortality in Mexico: measurement based on vital statistics. [Mortalidad materna en México: medición a partir de estadísticas vitales.] Estudios Demográficos y Urbanos, Vol. 12, No. 1-2, Jan-Aug 1997. 69-99, 367 pp. Mexico City, Mexico. In Spa. with sum. in Eng.
"Vital statistics are the most comprehensive source of information on maternal mortality in Mexico.... It is clear that maternal mortality has decreased throughout the twentieth century and will continue to do so. There are signs of a higher underestimation of mortality [due to] abortion. And there are regional differentials of maternal mortality.... Professional and/or institutional attention during childbirth has a great impact on maternal mortality decline. There are also socio-economic differentials by marital status, milieu, and schooling...."
Location: Princeton University Library (SPR).

64:20198 Alter, George C.; Carmichael, Ann G. Classification of causes of death. Continuity and Change, Vol. 12, No. 2, Aug 1997. 161-315 pp. Cambridge University Press: New York, New York/Cambridge, England. In Eng. with sum. in Fre; Ger.
"The essays in this special number of Continuity and Change offer a range of insights on the historical circumstances in which cause-of-death registration emerged. They help us to see the ways in which medical theory, medical practitioners, and their increasingly influential professional organizations shaped the conceptualization of reporting of causes of death."
Selected items will be cited in this or subsequent issues of Population Index.
Correspondence: Cambridge University Press, Edinburgh Building, Shaftesbury Road, Cambridge CB2 2RU, England. Location: Princeton University Library (SPR).

64:20199 Andreasson, Sven; Brandt, Lena. Mortality and morbidity related to alcohol. Alcohol and Alcoholism, Vol. 32, No. 2, 1997. 173-8 pp. Oxford, England. In Eng.
"To investigate the association between level of alcohol consumption and mortality and hospital admissions, data from the Swedish twin registry were utilized.... The proportion of deaths attributable to high levels of alcohol consumption, after adjustment for confounding, was 11.3% for men and 9.4% for women. The proportion of hospital admissions attributable to high levels of alcohol consumption was 13.2% for men and 1.1% for women. For psychiatric admissions, the corresponding figures were 28.7% and 7.2% respectively."
Correspondence: S. Andreasson, Karolinska Institute, Department of Clinical Neuroscience, Psychiatric Clinic for Addiction, St. Görans Hospital, Box 125 57, 102 29 Stockholm, Sweden. Location: Princeton University Library (SPR).

64:20200 Awusabo-Asare, Kofi; Boerma, J. Ties; Zaba, Basia. Evidence of the socio-demographic impact of AIDS in Africa. Health Transition Review, Vol. 7, Suppl., No. 2, 1997. v, 188 pp. Australian National University, Health Transition Centre: Canberra, Australia. In Eng.
"The papers in this volume are a selection from a Conference on the Socio-demographic impact of AIDS in Africa held in Durban, South Africa, 3-6 February, 1997.... Ten of the papers in this volume focus on the impact of the epidemic on adult mortality, fertility and household structure. The concluding contribution by John Caldwell puts the results of these papers into a broader perspective."
Selected items will be cited in this or subsequent issues of Population Index.
Correspondence: Australian National University, National Centre for Epidemiology and Population Health, Health Transition Centre, G.P.O. Box 4, Canberra, ACT 0200, Australia. E-mail: htr@nceph.anu.edu.au. Location: Princeton University Library (SPR).

64:20201 Balkau, Beverly; Eschwege, Francois; Eschwege, Eveline. Ischemic heart disease and alcohol-related causes of death: a view of the French paradox. Annals of Epidemiology, Vol. 7, No. 7, Oct 1997. 490-7 pp. New York, New York. In Eng.
"In France the low rates of death due to ischemic heart disease have been attributed to the high consumption of alcohol. However, the question remains: are the higher death rates for causes associated with alcohol consumption an explanation?... Official causes-of-death statistics for men 40-74 years of age show that in 1990 French men under 50 years old had low death rates from ischemic heart disease but a relatively high all-cause mortality rate, in contrast to low rates for men 60 to 74 years of age. Among French men aged 40-44 years in 1960, 34% had died before reaching the age of 70-74 years.... Although some of the chronic heavy drinkers in France die early of causes associated with excessive alcohol consumption, this is not the only reason for the low ischemic heart disease death rates."
Correspondence: B. Balkau, Institut National de la Santé et de la Recherche Médicale, Unit 21, Faculté de Médecine Paris-Sud, 16 avenue Paul Vaillant Couturier, 94807 Villejuif Cedex, France. Location: Princeton University Library (SPR).

64:20202 Barnes-Josiah, Debora; Myntti, Cynthia; Augustin, Antoine. The "three delays" as a framework for examining maternal mortality in Haiti. Social Science and Medicine, Vol. 46, No. 8, Apr 1998. 981-93 pp. Oxford, England. In Eng.
"Haiti has one of the highest rates of maternal mortality in the Caribbean. The `Three Delays' model proposes that pregnancy-related mortality is overwhelmingly due to delays in: (1) deciding to seek appropriate medical help for an obstetric emergency; (2) reaching an appropriate obstetric facility; and (3) receiving adequate care when a facility is reached. This framework was used to analyze a sample of 12 maternal deaths that occurred in a longitudinal cohort of pregnant Haitian women."
Correspondence: D. Barnes-Josiah, Minnesota Department of Health, Division of Family Health, 717 Delaware Street SE, Minneapolis, MN 55440. Location: Princeton University Library (PR).

64:20203 Blacker, John; Zaba, Basia. HIV prevalence and lifetime risk of dying of AIDS. Health Transition Review, Vol. 7, Suppl., No. 2, 1997. 45-62 pp. Canberra, Australia. In Eng.
"The paper examines the relationship between the lifetime risk of dying from AIDS and HIV prevalence, using a female stable population model in which the epidemic has stabilized. In addition to prevalence, lifetime risk is determined by various other factors, notably the level of mortality from causes other than AIDS, age at infection, and survival time between infection and death. Typically, the lifetime risk of dying from AIDS is between three and five times the HIV prevalence. Regression equations are developed for estimating lifetime risk from the prevalence and other parameters. The methods are applied to data for Kenya, and it is shown that the 1995 prevalence estimate of 7.5 per cent for the population aged 15 and over would be equivalent to a lifetime risk of about 30 per cent."
Correspondence: J. Blacker, London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, Centre for Population Studies, Keppel Street, London WC1E 7HT, England. Location: Princeton University Library (SPR).

64:20204 Carollo, Giovanni; De Leo, Diego. Relationship between suicide and undetermined causes of death among the elderly: analysis of Italian data from 1951 to 1988. Omega, Vol. 33, No. 3, 1996. 215-31 pp. Amityville, New York. In Eng.
"We analyzed data on causes of death in the Italian over-sixty-five population, with a view to testing the hypothesis of a possible transfer between causes of death, and to analyzing any correlation between suicide and undetermined or unknown causes of death, and any change in suicide methods, from 1958 to 1988.... The hypothesis of a possible exchange between suicides and unspecified causes is only confirmed by our data in the case of `soft' [less violent] suicide methods. Some categories (such as `soft' suicides) may therefore be underestimated through incorrect attribution of deaths to different diagnostic categories, though the importance of underreporting should be assessed differently, taking into consideration the various suicide methods."
Correspondence: D. De Leo, Università degli Studi di Padova, School of Medicine, Department of Psychiatry, via Vendramini 7, 35137 Padua, Italy. Location: New York Society, New York, NY.

64:20205 Carter, K. Codell. Causes of disease and causes of death. Continuity and Change, Vol. 12, No. 2, Aug 1997. 189-98 pp. Cambridge, England. In Eng. with sum. in Fre; Ger.
"In the early nineteenth century, the causes of disease and the causes of death that physicians identified were both sufficient causes of particular events. By the end of the century, physicians were no longer interested in sufficient causes of individual disease episodes--instead they sought necessary causes that were shared by all cases of each particular disease. However, there was no parallel change in causes of death; even today, the causes of death we identify are sufficient causes of particular events. Why are causes of disease no longer similar to causes of death?"
Correspondence: K. C. Carter, Brigham Young University, Department of Philosophy, Provo, UT 84602. Location: Princeton University Library (SPR).

64:20206 Decarli, Adriano; La Vecchia, Carlo. Cancer mortality in Italy, 1993. Tumori, Vol. 83, 1997. 643-9 pp. Milan, Italy. In Eng.
"Data and statistics are presented on cancer death certification for 1993 in Italy, updating previous publications covering the period 1955-1992.... Lung cancer was the leading site of cancer mortality.... Rates for other major cancer sites (intestines, stomach, female breast, prostate, pancreas, leukemias and lymphomas) were stable, but some decrease was apparent also in 1993 for Hodgkin's disease.... Cancer mortality rates in 1993 were moderately favorable in males, due to the leveling of the tobacco-related epidemic, whereas no appreciable change was registered in females."
Correspondence: A. Decarli, Università degli Studi di Milano, Istituto di Statistica Medica e Biometria, Nazionale dei Tumori, via Venezian 1, 20133 Milan, Italy. Location: Princeton University Library (SPR).

64:20207 Duffin, Jacalyn. Census versus medical daybooks: a comparison of two sources on mortality in nineteenth-century Ontario. Continuity and Change, Vol. 12, No. 2, Aug 1997. 199-219 pp. Cambridge, England. In Eng. with sum. in Fre; Ger.
"The causes of death recorded in the late-nineteenth-century Ontario Censuses are compared with those found in four decades of medical daybooks kept by one particular doctor for his own, single-handed medical practice. Discrepancies are revealed in the mortality of certain specific groups, especially stillborn infants, children, birthing mothers, and persons with consumption (tuberculosis). Reasons for the differences are explored, with a discussion of the differential reliability of the two types of sources of mortality data."
Correspondence: J. Duffin, Queen's University, Faculty of Health Science, Kingston, Ontario K7L 3N6, Canada. Location: Princeton University Library (SPR).

64:20208 Elender, Frances; Bentham, Graham; Langford, Ian. Tuberculosis mortality in England and Wales during 1982-1992: its association with poverty, ethnicity and AIDS. Social Science and Medicine, Vol. 46, No. 6, Mar 1998. 673-81 pp. Oxford, England. In Eng.
The strength of association between tuberculosis (TB) and several etiological factors is analyzed using standardized TB mortality rates for the 403 local authority districts in England and Wales for the period 1982-1992. "A strong association was found between all TB mortality groups and overcrowding at the household level. For women, no other measures improved the explanatory power of the models. In multiple regressions, both poverty and AIDS-related mortality explained additional variation in the model for younger men. The link between ethnicity and tuberculosis notifications was not reflected in this analysis of mortality."
Correspondence: F. Elender, University of East Anglia, School of Environmental Sciences, Norwich, Norfolk NR4 7TJ, England. Location: Princeton University Library (PR).

64:20209 Fikree, Fariyal F.; Midhet, Farid; Sadruddin, Salim; Berendes, Heinz W. Maternal mortality in different Pakistani sites: ratios, clinical causes and determinants. Acta Obstetricia et Gynecologica Scandinavica, Vol. 76, No. 7, 1997. 637-45 pp. Copenhagen, Denmark. In Eng.
"This paper reports on the level and clinical causes of maternal mortality from selected population-based clusters in Pakistan, and then uses a nested case-control design to estimate the impact of socio-economic, obstetric history and physical accessibility to health care on the risk of maternal death." Results indicate that "overall, the estimated maternal mortality ratio combining the data from the different sites was 433 per 100,000 livebirths.... Logistic regression identified the important risk factors as poor housing construction material..., distance of 40 or more miles from nearest hospital..., grandmultigravidity...and prior fetal losses...."
Correspondence: F. F. Fikree, Aga Khan University, Department of Community Health Sciences, P.O. Box 3500, Stadium Road, Karachi 74800, Pakistan. Location: Princeton University Library (SPR).

64:20210 Firat, Dinçer. Tobacco and cancer in Turkey. Journal of Environmental Pathology, Toxicology and Oncology, Vol. 15, No. 2-4, 1996. 155-60 pp. New York, New York. In Eng.
"We investigated the relationship between cigarette consumption and the relative mortality rates due to lung cancer in men and women [in Turkey] between 1965 and 1992. We found a parallelism between the increasing total and per capita cigarette consumption and the rising relative mortality from lung cancer in both sexes. Total per capita cigarette consumption rose from 1,230 cigarettes per year in 1985 to 1,495 in 1991, and the per capita yearly cigarette consumption over the age of 15 increased from 1,850 in 1965 to 2,600 in 1992. During the same period, the relative mortality from lung cancer increased from 25 to 40% in men and from 11 to 16% in women."
Correspondence: D. Firat, Hacettepe University, Institute of Oncology, Ankara, Turkey. Location: Princeton University Library (SPR).

64:20211 Glynn, J. R.; Warndorff, D. K.; Fine, P. E. M.; Msiska, G. K.; Munthali, M. M.; Ponnighaus, J. M. The impact of HIV on morbidity and mortality from tuberculosis in Sub-Saharan Africa: a study in rural Malawi and review of the literature. Health Transition Review, Vol. 7, Suppl., No. 2, 1997. 75-87 pp. Canberra, Australia. In Eng.
"Since the mid-1980s tuberculosis (TB) case numbers and HIV seroprevalence have both risen sharply in sub-Saharan Africa.... In a rural area of Malawi we have studied the proportion of TB attributable to HIV over time. Nearly 40 per cent of smear-positive TB cases in this rural area of Malawi can now be attributed directly to HIV. The actual effect of HIV on TB is even greater than this because increased case numbers increase transmission of tuberculosis infection to both HIV-infected and non-infected sections of the population. We compare our findings with others from sub-Saharan Africa and discuss reasons for the differences, and methodological issues in interpretation."
Correspondence: J. R. Glynn, London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, 99 Gower Street, London WC1E 6AZ, England. Location: Princeton University Library (SPR).

64:20212 Goodwin, James S.; Freeman, Jean L.; Freeman, Daniel; Nattinger, Ann B. Geographic variations in breast cancer mortality: do higher rates imply elevated incidence or poorer survival? American Journal of Public Health, Vol. 88, No. 3, Mar 1998. 458-60 pp. Washington, D.C. In Eng.
Reasons for the elevated rates of mortality from breast cancer found in the Northeast of the United States are explored using official vital statistics data. The results show that "the elevated mortality in the Northeast is apparent only in older women. For women aged 65 years and older, breast cancer mortality is 26% higher in New England than in the South, while incidence is only 3% higher. Breast cancer mortality for older women by state correlates poorly with incidence (r=0.28)." The authors suggest that the causes of the excess breast cancer mortality in the Northeast may be related to differences in cancer control practices that affect survival.
Correspondence: J. S. Goodwin, Jennie Sealy Hospital 3-East, Sealy Center on Aging, 301 University Boulevard, Galveston, TX 77555-0460. Location: Princeton University Library (SZ).

64:20213 Gregson, Simon; Anderson, Roy M.; Ndlovu, Joshua; Zhuwau, Tom; Chandiwana, Stephen K. Recent upturn in mortality in rural Zimbabwe: evidence for an early demographic impact of HIV-1 infection? AIDS, Vol. 11, No. 10, 1997. 1,269-80 pp. London, England. In Eng.
"In this article, we present results from a study of the early demographic impact of the HIV-1 epidemic in two rural areas of Zimbabwe. We found that HIV-1 prevalence among women attending antenatal clinics was high and that both adult and infant mortality had begun to rise. There was indirect evidence for a causal relationship between these two phenomena."
Correspondence: S. Gregson, Oxford University, Zoology Department, South Parks Road, Oxford OX1 3PS, England. Location: Princeton University Library (SPR).

64:20214 Guidi, E.; Angelini, L.; Petrone, G.; Carletti, C.; Migliori, M.; Rausa, G. Quality control of death records: a comparison between abstracts of the medical record and the ISTAT record. [Controllo di qualità delle cause di morte: confronto scheda nosologica individuale/scheda ISTAT.] L'Igiene Moderna, Vol. 106, No. 2, 1996. 173-83 pp. Ferrara, Italy. In Ita. with sum. in Eng.
"In the present report, we describe data quality comparing two different information systems in the years 1988 and 1992: abstracts of the medical record and death records of the National Institute of Statistics (ISTAT).... The most common errors observed were in the diagnosis procedures, coding, and computerized data entry."
Correspondence: E. Guidi, Università degli Studi di Ferrara, Istituto di Igiene e Medicina Preventiva, Via Fossato di Mortara 64, 44100 Ferrara, Italy. Location: Princeton University Library (SPR).

64:20215 Hill, Catherine; Doyon, Françoise. Mortality by cancer in France. [La mortalité par cancer en France.] Médecine/Sciences, Vol. 13, No. 10, Oct 1997. 1,172-5 pp. Montrouge, France. In Fre.
This is an analysis of cancer mortality in France in 1994. The author notes that cancer was the primary cause of death for 86,000 men and 55,000 women in 1994, making it the primary cause of death for men and the second most important for women. Changes in the site of the cancers causing death since 1950 are illustrated. Some comparisons are made with other developed countries. Trends in alcohol and tobacco consumption over time are also reviewed in relation to their influence on cancer mortality.
Correspondence: C. Hill, Institut Gustave-Roussy, 39 rue Camille-Desmoulins, 94805 Villejuif Cedex, France. E-mail: hill@igr.fr. Location: Princeton University Library (SPR).

64:20216 Kao, Senyeong; Chen, Li-Mei; Shi, Leiyu; Weinrich, Martin C. Underreporting and misclassification of maternal mortality in Taiwan. Acta Obstetricia et Gynecologica Scandinavica, Vol. 76, No. 7, 1997. 629-36 pp. Copenhagen, Denmark. In Eng.
"The purposes of this study were to quantify the level of underestimation of maternal mortality [in Taiwan] and to analyze possible factors that contribute to underreporting and misclassification of maternal mortality.... [The study is based on] all registered deaths that occurred during 1984-1988 in women of reproductive age.... The rate of underreporting of maternal mortality is 58.38% and the correct/confirmed rate of classification is 53.28%. Underreported and misclassified maternal deaths are more likely for women aged 20-24...."
Correspondence: S. Kao, National Defense Medical Center, P.O. Box 90048-509, Taipei, Taiwan. Location: Princeton University Library (SPR).

64:20217 Kaplan, Mark S.; Geling, Olga. Firearm suicides and homicides in the United States: regional variations and patterns of gun ownership. Social Science and Medicine, Vol. 46, No. 9, May 1998. 1,227-33 pp. Oxford, England. In Eng.
"Among industrialized countries, the United States has the highest rates of firearm suicide and homicide, as well as the highest rate of gun ownership. The present study compares the differential impact of gun availability on firearm suicides and homicides in the U.S. Using data from the NCHS Mortality Detail Files (1989-1991), the 1990 U.S. census population estimates, and the General Social Surveys (1989-1991) for nine geographic divisions, we computed rates of firearm and non-firearm suicides and homicides as well as rates of gun ownership for four gender-race groups.... The results show that gun ownership has a stronger impact on firearm suicides than homicides. These findings held up after stratifying by gender and race. The study suggests that reducing the aggregate level of gun availability may decrease the risk of firearm-related deaths."
Correspondence: M. S. Kaplan, Portland State University, College of Urban and Public Affairs, School of Community Health, P.O. Box 751, Portland, OR 97207-0751. Location: Princeton University Library (PR).

64:20218 Kharchenko, V.; Akopyan, A.; Mishiev, V.; Ioffina, O. A statistical analysis of cardiovascular mortality in Russia and in the Moscow region (1990-1996). [Statisticheskoe izuchenie smertnosti naseleniya ot boleznei sistemy krovoobrashcheniya v Rossii v tselom i v Moskve (1990-1996 gody).] Voprosy Statistiki, No. 11, 1997. 81-6 pp. Moscow, Russia. In Rus.
Trends in mortality from cardiovascular diseases in Russia are analyzed for the period 1990-1996. A separate analysis is presented for the Moscow region. Information is also included on other causes of death such as accidents, cancer, and pulmonary effects. Differences in life expectancy by sex are also considered. Some comparisons are made with other developed countries.
Location: Princeton University Library (SPR).

64:20219 Konteh, Richard. Socio-economic and other variables affecting maternal mortality in Sierra Leone. Community Development Journal, Vol. 32, No. 1, Jan 1997. 49-64 pp. Oxford, England. In Eng.
"Data for this study was obtained from a survey conducted in 12 villages in...Sierra Leone from November 1989 to February 1990. The socio-economic variables affecting maternal mortality and related indices identified in this study are age and parity; marital status; educational status; religion and poverty. The other factors are deliveries...; traditional Birth Attendants; attendance at clinics; attitudes and practices of health personnel and the target groups; distance from health facility and transportation; and finally the Primary Health Care programme activities."
Correspondence: R. Konteh, Universität Dortmund, Fakultät Raumplanung, Geographische Grundlagen, August Schmidtstraße 10, 44221 Dortmund, Germany. Location: University of Pennsylvania Library, Philadelphia, PA.

64:20220 Lee, Peter N.; Forey, Barbara A. Trends in cigarette consumption cannot fully explain trends in British lung cancer rates. Journal of Epidemiology and Community Health, Vol. 52, No. 2, Feb 1998. 82-92 pp. London, England. In Eng.
The authors investigate "whether British lung cancer (LC) trends are adequately explained by cigarette smoking trends, and whether modelling using aggregated smoking prevalence estimates can validly replace modelling using individual smoking histories.... Observed LC trends for 1955-1985 for both sexes and three age groups were compared with multistage model predictions using smoking history data from two surveys (HALS, AHIP).... Observed male LC rates fell faster than predicted.... The discrepancies were unexplained by plausible alternative multistage parameters, full allowance for tar reduction, alternative estimates of amount smoked, or ETS [environmental tobacco smoke].... British LC trends cannot be fully explained by cigarette consumption trends, implying factors other than cigarette smoking contribute importantly to overall risk." The data are from the Health and Lifestyle Study (HALS) and the Alderson Hospital In-Patients Study (AHIP).
Correspondence: P. N. Lee, Statistics and Computing, 17 Cedar Road, Sutton, Surrey SM2 5DA, England. Location: Princeton University Library (SPR).

64:20221 Leenaars, Antoon A.; Lester, David. The effects of gun control on the accidental death rate from firearms in Canada. Journal of Safety Research, Vol. 28, No. 3, Fall 1997. 119-22 pp. Oxford, England. In Eng.
"One factor that has been proposed as affecting accidental death rates is the availability of a lethal agent in the environment. The present study explores this hypothesis for the case of firearm availability and the accidental death rate from firearms. Data from Canada indicated that the passage of Canada's Criminal Law Amendment Act of 1977 (Bill C-51), enforced from 1978 on, was followed by a lower accidental death rate from firearms, but the preventive effect was more clear for females than for males."
Correspondence: A. A. Leenaars, Leiden University, Faculty of Social Science, Department of Clinical and Health Psychology, Leiden, Netherlands. Location: New York University, Elmer Holmes Bobst Library, New York, NY.

64:20222 Levi, Fabio; La Vecchia, Carlo; Randimbison, Lalao. Cancer mortality in Switzerland, 1990-1994. Sozial- und Präventivmedizin/Médecine Sociale et Preventive, Vol. 42, No. 1, 1997. 37-54 pp. Basel, Switzerland. In Eng. with sum. in Ger; Fre.
"Data and statistics are presented on cancer death certification in Switzerland in 1990-1994, updating previous publications covering the period 1951-1989. Data for 1990-1994, grouped into 30 categories, are presented in 10 tables as 5-years age- and sex-specific absolute and percentage frequencies of deaths, and average annual crude, age-specific and age-standardized rates, at all ages and truncated for the 35-64 year age group.... With the major exception of lung cancers and a few other tobacco-related neoplasms in females, cancer mortality rates in Switzerland over the period 1990-1994 were generally favourable."
Correspondence: F. Levi, Institut Universitaire de Médecine Sociale et Préventive, Registre Vaudois des Tumeurs, CHUV Falaises 1, 1011 Lausanne, Switzerland. Location: Princeton University Library (SPR).

64:20223 Medrano, M. J.; López-Abente, G.; Barrado, María J.; Pollán, M.; Almazán, J. Effect of age, birth cohort, and period of death on cerebrovascular mortality in Spain, 1952 through 1991. Stroke, Vol. 28, No. 1, Jan 1997. 40-4 pp. Dallas, Texas. In Eng.
"The continued decrease in cerebrovascular disease in Spain remains unexplained. Age-period-cohort analysis enables description of birth cohort and period-of-death components. This study sought to describe these effects on the decline of stroke mortality in Spain [from 1952 through 1991].... The results suggest that a decrease in incidence coupled with an increase in survival may account for the observed decline in stroke mortality, but further studies on the Spanish population are needed to assess these findings. Although not yet definitive, there are signs of an increase in incidence among the more recent generations."
Correspondence: M. J. Medrano, Centro Nacional de Epidemiología, Sinesio Delgado 6, 28029 Madrid, Spain. E-mail: pmedrano@isciii.es. Location: Princeton University Library (SPR).

64:20224 Morgan, Geoffrey; Corbett, Stephen; Wlodarczyk, John; Lewis, Peter. Air pollution and daily mortality in Sydney, Australia, 1989 through 1993. American Journal of Public Health, Vol. 88, No. 5, May 1998. 759-64 pp. Washington, D.C. In Eng.
The effects of outdoor air pollutants on mortality in Sydney, Australia, are examined over the period 1989-1993 using a time-series analysis. The results show a clear relation between levels of air pollution and all-cause, cardiovascular, and respiratory mortality.
Correspondence: G. Morgan, New South Wales Health Department, Environmental Health Branch, P.O. Box 798, Gladesville, NSW 211, Australia. E-mail: gmorg@doh.health.nsw.gov.au. Location: Princeton University Library (SZ).

64:20225 Nalugoda, Fred; Wawer, Maria J.; Konde-Lule, Joseph K.; Menon, Rekha; Gray, Ronald H.; Serwadda, David; Sewankambo, Nelson K.; Li, Chuanjin. HIV infection in rural households, Rakai district, Uganda. Health Transition Review, Vol. 7, Suppl., No. 2, 1997. 127-40 pp. Canberra, Australia. In Eng.
"The Rakai Project conducted a population-based cohort study [in 1990-1992] in rural Rakai District, Uganda, a region with high rates of HIV prevalence.... HIV prevalence in the study population was high, with 19.1 per cent of adults aged 15 or more years being HIV-positive. By household, the burden of infection was even more pronounced: 31.3 per cent of households had at least one HIV-infected resident adult.... HIV-related adult mortality had substantially more effect on subsequent household dependency ratio and on material possessions than the death of an HIV-uninfected adult, in part because the former deaths were concentrated in adults aged 15-49, the most economically active age group in this rural population."
Correspondence: F. Nalugoda, Uganda Virus Research Institute, Entebbe Institute, Rakai Project, P.O. Box 49, Entebbe, Uganda. Location: Princeton University Library (SPR).

64:20226 Nemtsov, Aleksandr V. Alcohol consumption and mortality in Russia. [Potreblenie alkogolya i smertnost' b Rossii.] Sotsiologicheskie Issledovaniya, No. 9, 1997. 113-6 pp. Moscow, Russia. In Rus.
Trends in alcohol consumption in Russia are described over time, and their relationship to mortality is analyzed. The author notes that the level of alcohol consumption in the 1950s was lower than that of the prewar level and that it peaked in 1979. Data are presented on the major causes of death for the period 1970-1994 and on levels of alcohol consumption for the period 1981-1993.
Correspondence: A. V. Nemtsov, Ministry of Health, Russian Federation, Institute of Psychiatry, Moscow, Russia. Location: Princeton University Library (FST).

64:20227 Palella, Frank J.; Delaney, Kathleen M.; Moorman, Anne C.; Loveless, Mark O.; Fuhrer, Jack; Satten, Glen A.; Aschman, Diane J.; Holmberg, Scott D. Declining morbidity and mortality among patients with advanced human immunodeficiency virus infection. New England Journal of Medicine, Vol. 338, No. 13, Mar 26, 1998. 853-60 pp. Boston, Massachusetts. In Eng.
Recent trends in AIDS-related mortality in the United States are analyzed using data on 1,255 patients attending one of nine clinics in various cities between 1994 and 1997. "Mortality among the patients declined from 29.4 per 100 person-years in 1995 to 8.8 per 100 person-years in the second quarter of 1997. There were reductions in mortality regardless of sex, race, age, and risk factors for transmission of HIV." The authors attribute the decline in both morbidity and mortality from AIDS to the use of more intensive antiretroviral therapies.
Correspondence: F. J. Palella, Northwestern University Medical School, 303 E. Superior Street, Passavant Pavilion, Room 828, Chicago, IL 60611-0949. Location: Princeton University Library (SZ).

64:20228 Prescott, Eva; Osler, Merete; Andersen, Per K.; Hein, Hans O.; Borch-Johnsen, Knut; Lange, Peter; Schnohr, Peter; Vestbo, Jørgen. Mortality in women and men in relation to smoking. International Journal of Epidemiology, Vol. 27, No. 1, Feb 1998. 27-32 pp. Oxford, England. In Eng.
"We used pooled data from three prospective population studies conducted in Copenhagen [Denmark] to compare total and cause-specific mortality in relation to smoking habits. A total of 30,917 subjects, 44% women, with initial examinations between 1964 and 1992 were followed until 1994 for date and cause of death.... Overall mortality rates in smokers were approximately twice those in people who never smoked. Positive associations with smoking in both men and women were confirmed for all-cause mortality as well as mortality from respiratory disease, vascular disease, lung cancer, and other tobacco-related cancers."
Correspondence: E. Prescott, Institute of Preventive Medicine, Center for Prospective Population Studies, Kommunehospitalet, 1399 Copenhagen K, Denmark. Location: Princeton University Library (SPR).

64:20229 Prescott, Eva; Hippe, Merete; Schnohr, Peter; Hein, Hans O.; Vestbo, Jørgen. Smoking and risk of myocardial infarction in women and men: longitudinal population study. British Medical Journal, Vol. 316, No. 7137, Apr 4, 1998. 1,043-7 pp. London, England. In Eng.
Pooled data from three population studies undertaken in Copenhagen, Denmark, are used to compare the risk of myocardial infarction associated with smoking in women and men. The data concern 11,472 women and 13,191 men followed for a mean of 12.3 years. The results show that the "relative risk of myocardial infarction increased with tobacco consumption in both men and women and was higher in inhalers than in non-inhalers. The risks associated with smoking, measured by both current and accumulated tobacco exposure, were consistently higher in women than in men and did not depend on age."
Correspondence: E. Prescott, Kommunehospitalet, Institute of Preventive Medicine, 1399 Copenhagen K, Denmark. E-mail: eva.prescott@ipm.hosp.dk. Location: Princeton University Library (SZ).

64:20230 Pringle, D. G. Hypothesized foetal and early life influences on adult heart disease mortality: an ecological analysis of data for the Republic of Ireland. Social Science and Medicine, Vol. 46, No. 6, Mar 1998. 683-93 pp. Oxford, England. In Eng.
The influence of living conditions shortly after birth or fetal developments before birth on the risk of heart disease in adult life is considered. "This paper outlines the evolution of this line of thought, and tests whether these hypotheses are consistent with ecological data for deaths from ischaemic heart disease between 1981 and 1990 and infant deaths between 1916 and 1935 in the Republic of Ireland. Support for the hypotheses is found to be ambiguous. Possible interpretations of these findings are discussed, paying particular attention to the anomalous nature of infant mortality in Ireland between 1916 and 1935."
Correspondence: D. G. Pringle, National University of Ireland, Department of Geography, Maynooth, County Kildare, Ireland. Location: Princeton University Library (PR).

64:20231 Risse, Günter B. Cause of death as a historical problem. Continuity and Change, Vol. 12, No. 2, Aug 1997. 175-88 pp. Cambridge, England. In Eng. with sum. in Fre; Ger.
"This article is primarily intended to summarize, from the point of view of medical historians, the multiple problems surrounding interpretations of historical demographic and epidemiological data and to point out the contextual nature of such information.... There is an urgent need to contextualize carefully the available records and place them within religious, cultural, political, economic, and medical schemes. Stripped of such contexts, the understanding of causes of death becomes almost meaningless, and statistical analyses distorted."
Correspondence: G. B. Risse, University of California, Department of the History of Health Sciences, San Francisco, CA 94143. Location: Princeton University Library (SPR).

64:20232 Russell, Louise B.; Carson, Jeffrey L.; Taylor, William C.; Milan, Edwin; Dey, Achintan; Jagannathan, Radha. Modeling all-cause mortality: projections of the impact of smoking cessation based on the NHEFS. American Journal of Public Health, Vol. 88, No. 4, Apr 1998. 630-6 pp. Washington, D.C. In Eng.
The impact on subsequent mortality of giving up smoking is examined. "Survivor functions derived from multivariate hazard regressions fitted to data from the first National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES I) Epidemiologic Followup Study, a longitudinal survey of a representative sample of U.S. adults, were used to project deaths from all causes." The results show that the model produced realistic estimates of the effects of giving up smoking on subsequent mortality in adults. "Projections of the impact of smoking cessation showed that the number of cumulative deaths would be 15% lower after 5 years and 11% lower after 20 years."
Correspondence: L. B. Russell, Rutgers University, Institute for Health, 30 College Avenue, New Brunswick, NJ 08903. Location: Princeton University Library (SZ).

64:20233 Siddique, Reshmi M.; Siddique, Mahmood I.; Rimm, Alfred A. Trends in pulmonary embolism mortality in the U.S. elderly population: 1984 through 1991. American Journal of Public Health, Vol. 88, No. 3, Mar 1998. 478-80 pp. Washington, D.C. In Eng.
Trends in mortality from pulmonary embolism in the United States are analyzed by race, age, and sex using data from the Health Care Financing Administration Medicare Provider Analysis and Review Record claims files. The results show that "for a primary diagnosis of pulmonary embolism, mortality rates declined by 15.2% and 16.0%, respectively, for White male patients 65 to 74 years old and 75 years or older. There was a corresponding decline in mortality rates for White women. For a secondary diagnosis of pulmonary embolism, mortality rates declined by 14.7% and 9.8%, respectively, for White male patients 65 to 74 years old and 75 years or older. The White mortality rate declines revealed in this study did not translate, in all cases, to Black patient groups."
Correspondence: A. A. Rimm, Case Western Reserve University, School of Medicine, Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics, 10900 Euclid Avenue, Cleveland, OH 44106-4945. Location: Princeton University Library (SZ).

64:20234 Smeets, Hugo M.; Çaushi, Nurie; Alikaj, Evia. Infant and maternal mortality in Albania. European Journal of Public Health, Vol. 7, No. 3, Sep 1997. 279-83 pp. Oxford, England. In Eng.
"Changes in Albanian infant and maternal mortality were studied.... Infant mortality decreased from 98 per 1,000 in 1970 to 28 per 1,000 in 1990, but since then has shown a significant increase.... There was an increase in death from pulmonary diseases, while infectious diseases and congenital anomalies showed a decrease. Maternal mortality decreased annually, but only mortality caused by abortion decreased constantly.... The changes in infant mortality could be related to the deterioration of the health care system after 1991. On the other hand, errors in the records could have influenced results. Maternal mortality decreased due to better abortion practice, whilst the increase in abortions seemed to indicate that this was an important method of family planning."
Correspondence: H. M. Smeets, Javastraat 92, 3531 PN Utrecht, Netherlands. Location: Princeton University Library (SPR).

64:20235 Tallis, G. M.; Leppard, P.; Tallis, G. A.; Hansen, D. Are causes of death predictable? Human Biology, Vol. 70, No. 1, Feb 1998. 117-28 pp. Detroit, Michigan. In Eng.
"A random sample of death records of adult males from 1967 to 1970 was chosen from the South Australian Registry of Births, Deaths, and Marriages. The natural parents of these individuals were identified by cross-reference to birth certificates, and an extensive search was made of the death records for these parents. In this manner random families were selected for which, where possible, the cause of death and length of life of each family member were determined. From the information pertaining to the stated cause of death, each individual was assigned to one of five death categories." The authors conclude that parental information obtained from death certificates is of no value in predicting the death category of a son.
Correspondence: G. M. Tallis, University of Adelaide, Department of Statistics, Adelaide, SA 5005, Australia. Location: Princeton University Library (SPR).

64:20236 Urassa, Ernest; Massawe, Siriel; Lindmark, Gunilla; Nyström, Lennarth. Operational factors affecting maternal mortality in Tanzania. Health Policy and Planning, Vol. 12, No. 1, 1997. 50-7 pp. Oxford, England. In Eng.
"Identification of the main operational factors in cases of maternal death within and outside the health care system is necessary for safe motherhood programmes. In this study, a follow-up was done of all 117 cases of maternal deaths in Ilala district, Dar es Salaam, [Tanzania] 1991-1993, at all levels of care. In all, 79% received some medical care whereas 11% arrived too late for treatment.... It is concluded that although community education on danger signs in pregnancy and labour is important, provision of the core resources and supplies for emergency obstetric interventions, as well as clear protocols for management and referral, are absolutely necessary for improvement of maternal survival."
Correspondence: L. Nyström, Umeå University, Department of Epidemiology and Public Health, 901 85 Umeå, Sweden. Location: Cornell University Library, Ithaca, NY.

64:20237 van Poppel, Frans; van Dijk, Jitse P. The development of cause-of-death registration in the Netherlands, 1865-1955. Continuity and Change, Vol. 12, No. 2, Aug 1997. 265-87 pp. Cambridge, England. In Eng. with sum. in Fre; Ger.
"This paper describes the transition from a local-level, non-confidential cause-of-death registration system in the Netherlands to a national-level system based on confidential medical certificates of death. The advancement of public health and the preservation of public order (focusing on the fear of suspended animation as well as on violent deaths) laid the basis for the system. During the period from 1865 to 1955, a variety of issues were debated: centralized versus decentralized coding and processing of the data, confidential versus non-confidential certificates, national versus international classifications, and statistical versus medical concerns."
Correspondence: F. van Poppel, Netherlands Interdisciplinary Demographic Institute, Postbus 11650, 2502 AR The Hague, Netherlands. Location: Princeton University Library (SPR).

64:20238 Venketasubramanian, N. Trends in cerebrovascular disease mortality in Singapore: 1970-1994. International Journal of Epidemiology, Vol. 27, No. 1, Feb 1998. 15-9 pp. Oxford, England. In Eng.
"This paper presents the mortality trends from CVD [cerebrovascular disease] in Singapore from 1970 to 1994, and proposes reasons for the trends based on recently available data from national epidemiological health surveys carried out in Singapore.... This study has shown that while there has been a rise in the number of deaths from CVD in Singapore, the age- and sex-standardized rates, and separately for males and females, have shown a downward trend from 1970 to 1994."
Correspondence: N. Venketasubramanian, Tan Tock Seng Hospital, Department of Neurology, Moulmein Road, Singapore 1130. Location: Princeton University Library (SPR).

64:20239 Vlachonikolis, I. G.; Philalithis, A. E.; Brittan, Y.; Georgoulias, V. Mortality from malignant neoplasms in Crete, 1992-1993. Journal of Epidemiology and Community Health, Vol. 52, No. 2, Feb 1998. 126-7 pp. London, England. In Eng.
"This first international report briefly summarises the causes of cancer mortality from the first two years (1992-1993) of the population based Cancer Registry of Crete (CRC), Greece.... CRC plans to report periodically; the first two years' results provide a baseline for future trends of cancer mortality in Crete."
Correspondence: I. G. Vlachonikolis, University of Crete, Department of Social Medicine, P.O. Box 1393, 72100 Heraklion, Crete, Greece. Location: Princeton University Library (SPR).

64:20240 Vork, Fred C.; Kyanamina, Simasiku; Van Roosmalen, Jos. Maternal mortality in rural Zambia. Acta Obstetricia et Gynecologica Scandinavica, Vol. 76, No. 7, 1997. 646-50 pp. Copenhagen, Denmark. In Eng.
The authors assess maternal mortality in a remote rural area of Zambia. "The number of respondents in the sisterhood method survey was 1,978. The estimated maternal mortality ratio derived from this survey was 1,238 per 100,000 live births.... Maternal mortality in rural Zambia is among the highest as reported in the world. Official hospital data tend to underestimate maternal mortality in the community due to underreporting. The sisterhood method survey is an efficient indirect method to assess maternal mortality in rural areas of developing countries."
Correspondence: F. C. Vork, University Hospital Groningen, Department of Obstetrics and Gynaecology, P.O. Box 30001, 9700 Groningen, Netherlands. Location: Princeton University Library (SPR).

64:20241 Zaba, Basia. The demographic impact of AIDS: some stable population simulation results. Centre for Population Studies Research Paper, No. 94-2, ISBN 0-902657-50-X. Dec 1994. 54 pp. London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, Centre for Population Studies: London, England. In Eng.
"A review is presented of recent estimates of the likely impact of AIDS on population growth, emphasising the degree of discrepancy between different authors' predicted outcomes for a given prevalence of HIV in the adult population. An approximate formula is developed for predicting the relationship of HIV prevalence to its demographic impact.... [Testing the model] indicates that demographic impact is quite sensitive to assumptions about the relative age patterns of HIV incidence and fertility.... In order to discover the likely relationship between the age patterns of HIV incidence and fertility, further models are developed, which take account of the influence of onset of fecundity and initiation of sexual activity on fertility and HIV incidence."
Correspondence: London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, Centre for Population Studies, 49-51 Bedford Square, London WC1B 3DP, England. E-mail: B.Zaba@lshtm.ac.uk. Location: Princeton University Library (SPR).

64:20242 Zahl, Per-Henrik. Breast cancer: incidence, mortality, and stage shifting in Norway. [Brystkreft: insidens, mortalitet og stadiemigrasjon i Norge.] Tidsskrift for den Norske Lægeforening/Journal of the Norwegian Medical Association, Vol. 117, No. 26, Oct 30, 1997. 3,765-7 pp. Oslo, Norway. In Nor. with sum. in Eng.
"The age-standardized incidence rate of breast cancer [in Norway] has increased by 50% over the period 1965-94. There has been a much lesser increase in the corresponding age-standardized mortality rate because of better treatment and stage shifting.... After correction for confounding effects of age and clinical stage, the age-standardized 3-year relative survival rate increased from 90% to 95% and from 67% to 85% for stages 1 and 2, respectively. The impact of advancing breast cancer diagnosis independent of the screening programme, is discussed. Finally, the evaluation of screening programmes using shift migration models and simulations is discussed."
Correspondence: P.-H. Zahl, University of Washington, Department of Biostatistics, F-600 Health Sciences, Box 357232, Seattle, WA 98195. E-mail: perhz@biostat.washington.edu. Location: Princeton University Library (SPR).

64:20243 Zatonski, Witold A.; McMichael, Anthony J.; Powles, John W. Ecological study of reasons for sharp decline in mortality from ischaemic heart disease in Poland since 1991. British Medical Journal, Vol. 316, No. 7137, Apr 4, 1998. 1,047-51 pp. London, England. In Eng.
The reasons for the decline in mortality attributed to ischemic heart disease that has been recorded in Poland since 1991 are examined. Data are from the national vital statistics system and WHO. "The change in trend in mortality attributed to diseases of the circulatory system was similar in men and women and most marked (>20%) in early middle age.... Reporting biases are unlikely to have exaggerated the true fall in ischaemic heart disease; neither is it likely to be mainly due to changes in smoking, drinking, stress, or medical care. Changes in type of dietary fat and increased supplies of fresh fruit and vegetables seem to be the best candidates."
Correspondence: W. A. Zatonski, Maria Sklodowska-Curie Memorial Cancer Centre and Institute of Oncology, Department of Epidemiology and Cancer Prevention, 02-781 Warsaw, Poland. E-mail: zatonskiw@coi.waw.pl. Location: Princeton University Library (SZ).