As the number of observations is ineluctably small at the extreme ages, the exact level and patterns of mortality at the upper end of the life table are difficult to measure. The problem is often enhanced by errors in age declarations in official documents due to underestimation or exaggeration, attraction for some ages ending with particular digits (age heaping), transcription errors, etc. Contrary to what one might expect, these errors are not specific to countries with poor registration systems. Studies by Coale and Kisker (1986, 1990), Condran et al. (1991), and Kannisto (1988, 1994), among others, have shown evidence of errors in age at death declarations in vital statistics and age reporting in censuses in developed countries also, sufficient to produce biases in mortality measurement at very old ages in particular (Preston et al. 1999).
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Bourbeau, R., Desjardins, B. (2007). Mortality at Extreme Ages and Data Quality: The Canadian Experience. In: Robine, JM., Crimmins, E.M., Horiuchi, S., Yi, Z. (eds) Human Longevity, Individual Life Duration, and the Growth of the Oldest-Old Population. International Studies in Population, vol 4. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4020-4848-7_8
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