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Cross-National Mortality Patterns and Health Disparities

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Early Life Conditions and Rapid Demographic Changes in the Developing World

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Abstract

Will the levels of mortality of older adults in the unique cohorts of the 1930s–1960s exceed what one would expect given current total levels of mortality (Hypothesis 3)?Will the observed morbidity patterns for adult heart disease and diabetes in the tip of the iceberg countries translate into higher mortality? There are only a small number of countries with available mortality data. However, a few pieces of evidence suggest a partial affirmative to the questions posed.

Levels of mortality of older adults in the tip of the iceberg countries should exceed what one would expect; it will be higher than that experienced by populations with equivalent socioeconomic conditions but where the growth of the elderly population attributable to early mortality decline is due to improvements in standards of living.

(Hypothesis #3)

Significant socioeconomic disparities in health status and disability of older adults in tip of the iceberg countries will be found. Keeping everything constant, social and economic disparities will be more salient in areas where the contribution of past mortality decline associated with deployment of novel medical technology is higher.

(Hypothesis #4)

Adapted from Palloni, McEniry, Wong, and Peláez (2006)

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Notes

  1. 1.

    Waaler (1984).

  2. 2.

    García-Palmieri et al. (1970).

  3. 3.

    Harper, Lynch, and Davey Smith (2011).

  4. 4.

    Palloni, McEniry, Dávila, and García Gurucharri (2005).

  5. 5.

    For example, López-Alonso (2007), Godoy, Goodman, Levins, Caram, and Seyfried (2007), and B. Harris (2000).

  6. 6.

    Popkin, Horton, and Kim (2001).

  7. 7.

    Palloni, McEniry, Wong and Peláez (2007).

  8. 8.

    See Monteiro, Conde, et al. (2004) and Monteiro, Moura, et al. (2004).

  9. 9.

    Waaler (1984).

  10. 10.

    Fogel (2004) and Waaler (1984).

  11. 11.

    Clark (1930).

  12. 12.

    Barker (1998) and Doblhammer (2004).

  13. 13.

    McEniry (2009b).

  14. 14.

    Davey Smith and Lynch (2004).

  15. 15.

    Monteverde, Norhonha, and Palloni (2009).

  16. 16.

    Tare, Parkington, and Morley (2006).

  17. 17.

    Thorpe, Frieden, Laserson, Wells, and Khatri (2004).

  18. 18.

    Clark (1930).

  19. 19.

    Brenes (2008).

  20. 20.

    Gavrilov and Gavrilova (2005).

  21. 21.

    Elo and Preston (1992).

  22. 22.

    Barker (1998).

  23. 23.

    Finch and Crimmins (2004), Painter et al. (2006), Jana, Vasishta, Jindal, Khunnu, and Ghosh (1994), Guyatt and Snow (2004), Moore, Cole, Collinson, Poskitt, McGregor, and Prentice (1999), Rayco-Solon, Moore, Fulford, and Prentice (2004), and Ravelli et al. (1998).

  24. 24.

    Murray and López (1996).

  25. 25.

    Wilkinson (1996).

  26. 26.

    For more discussion about health selection see Lundberg (1991) and Palloni, Milesi, White, and Turner (2009).

  27. 27.

    Rosero-Bixby and Dow (2009).

  28. 28.

    Monteiro, Conde, Lu, and Popkin (2004).

  29. 29.

    Monteiro, Conde, et al. (2004) and Monteiro, Moura, et al. (2004).

  30. 30.

    McEniry (2010a).

  31. 31.

    McEniry (2010a).

  32. 32.

    McEniry (2010a).

  33. 33.

    Monteiro, Conde, et al. (2004) and Monteiro, Moura, et al. (2004).

  34. 34.

    McEniry (2010a).

  35. 35.

    Smith (2005).

  36. 36.

    Rosero-Bixby and Dow (2009).

  37. 37.

    Smith (2005).

  38. 38.

    Palloni, Milesi, White, and Turner (2009).

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  1. Inter-university Consortium for Political and Social Research Institute for Social Research, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI, USA

    Mary McEniry

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McEniry, M. (2014). Cross-National Mortality Patterns and Health Disparities. In: Early Life Conditions and Rapid Demographic Changes in the Developing World. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-007-6979-3_5

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