The Dimensions of Age-specific Mortality

Document Type

Article

Authors

Harley B. Messinger, Institute for Health Research, Davis, California

Abstract

Factor analysis of the q, l, and e life table values for the states of the United States in 1960 revealed three interpretable components dealing with mortality in early, middle, and late life. Similarity analysis of sex-specific data revealed the same factors for males and females separately as for the total population. An analytic rotation of a principal components solution published by Ledermann and Breas in 1959 gave the same factors. Their data covered 50 countries and extended back to the turn of the century. These results suggest that a triple index based on certain age-specific death rates, life table functions, or factor scores may summarize a wide variety of abridged life tables with very little loss of information. The concept of L indexes, based on analysis of inter-relationships among life-table values, is intro­duced.

Recommended Citation

Messinger, Harley B. (1980) "The Dimensions of Age-specific Mortality," Human Biology: Vol. 52: Iss. 1, Article 12.
Available at: https://digitalcommons.wayne.edu/humbiol/vol52/iss1/12