Life expectancy as a summary of mortality in a population: statistical considerations and suitability for use by health authorities.

OBJECTIVE: To investigate the sampling distribution and usefulness of expectation of life in comparisons of mortality at health district level or below. DESIGN: Derivation of a formula for the variance of the expectation of life, confirmation of the result and generation of the sampling distribution...

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Publicado en:Journal of Epidemiology & Community Health Vol. 55; no. 1; pp. 38 - 44
Autores principales: Silcocks PBS, Jenner DA, Reza R
Formato: equations & formulas research tables/charts Journal Article
Publicado: BMJ Publishing Group Jan2001
Acceso en línea:Ver este registro en EBSCOhost
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      dt: Jan2001
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        atl: Life expectancy as a summary of mortality in a population: statistical considerations and suitability for use by health authorities.
      aug:
        au:
          Silcocks PBS
          Jenner DA
          Reza R
        affil: Trent Institute for Health Services Research, University of Nottingham, Queen's Medical Centre, Nottingham NG7 2UH. E-mail: p.b.silcocks@nottingham.ac.uk
      sug:
        subj:
          Life Expectancy In Old Age
          Mortality In Old Age
          Data Analysis Software
          United Kingdom
          Aged, 80 and Over
          Analysis of Variance
          Comparative Studies
          Algorithms
          Age Factors
          Male
          Female
          Health and Welfare Planning
          Population
          Epidemiological Research
          Human
          Aged, 80 & over
          Male
          Female
      ab: OBJECTIVE: To investigate the sampling distribution and usefulness of expectation of life in comparisons of mortality at health district level or below. DESIGN: Derivation of a formula for the variance of the expectation of life, confirmation of the result and generation of the sampling distribution by Monte Carlo simulation; comparison of expectation of life with standardised mortality ratio (SMR) and other summary indices of mortality. SETTING: A health district in Trent Region, England. SUBJECTS: Routinely available mortality statistics at electoral ward level and above. MAIN RESULTS: Given reasonable and simple assumptions the sampling distribution of the expectation of life is approximately normal. Expectation of life shows a high negative correlation with SMR even if the oldest age band for the SMR is open ended. CONCLUSIONS: Where sampling error is an issue, inference concerning differences in mortality rates between populations can be based on expectation of life, which is better for illustrative purposes than SMR. The formula for the variance of the expectation of life is more complex however. If the final age band is open ended, its lower bound should be as high as possible to avoid misleading results caused by hidden differences in age structure.
      pubtype: Academic Journal
      doctype:
        equations & formulas
        research
        tables/charts
        Journal Article
      ougenre: Article
    language: English
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