Mortality Flashcards
(10 cards)
define death
The permanent disappearance of all evidence of life at any time after live birth has taken place
have to be alive before you can die
describe the age pattern of mortality and how it differs between low and high income countries
this reflects the time-series progression of ASDRs from infant to elderly
low income countries have U-shaped patterns while high income countries have J-shaped patterns
this is because infant mortality rates are much lower in high income countries, so you don’t get that U shape
how are infant mortality rates used to analyze countries? is there any in-country variation as well?
they’re used to analyze quality of life
yes, even in Canada NWT and Nunavut have higher IMRs from the large First Nations population in those areas
explain CSDRs and ASDRs
CSDRs are cause-specific death rates, = deaths from cause / person-yrs of exposure
ASDRs are age-specific death rates
= # of deaths in age interval / person-yrs exposure in that interval
key diff is that CSDRs are per 100k people, ASDRs are per 1,000
what is the single most used measure to describe population health
life expectancy
… it’s also the single most misunderstood measure !!!
what is a life table
takes a hypothetical cohort of babies and estimates their life expectancy using current ASDRs
can be single-year intervals or abridged (ages 1-4)
distinguish cohort from period life tables
cohort: uses actual data on deaths from a full cohort, takes a long time for the last cohort member to die
period: uses synthetic cohort and applies current ASDRs over lifetime, far more useful
what are some of the drawbacks of the period life table
not great for comparing low mortality countries … since these ASDRs only differ by hundredths of a percent
large fluctuations from outlier events like war and disease can skew future estimates since they’re carried on into perpetuity
doesn’t factor in changes in ASDRs (like the YTM measure) it assumes ASDRs stay at today’s levels forever
what are some of the drawbacks of the cohort life table
takes a very long time to record all persons lifespan figures … needs last person to die
would cohort and period life tables be considered longitudinal or cross-sectional
cohort is longitudinal: looks at full lifespan of a cohort
period is cross-sectional, snapshot in time
