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An examination of black/white differences in the rate of age-related mortality increase

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  • Andrew Fenelon

    (Brown University)

Abstract

Background: The rate of mortality increase with age among adults is typically used as a measure of the rate of functional decline associated with aging or senescence. While black and white populations differ in the level of mortality, mortality also rises less rapidly with age for blacks than for whites, leading to the well-known black/white mortality "crossover". Objective: This paper investigates black/white differences in the rate of mortality increase with age for major causes of death in order to examine the factors responsible for the black/white crossover. Methods: The analysis considers two explanations for the crossover: selective survival and age misreporting. Mortality is modeled using a Gompertz model for 11 causes of death from ages 50-84 among blacks and whites by sex. Results: Mortality increases more rapidly with age for whites than for blacks for nearly all causes of death considered. The all-cause mortality rate of mortality increase is nearly two percentage points higher for whites. The analysis finds evidence for both selective survival and age misreporting, although age misreporting is a more prominent explanation among women. Conclusions: The black/white mortality crossover reflects large differences in the rate of age-related mortality increase. Instead of reflecting the impact of specific causes of death, this pattern exists across many disparate disease conditions, indicating the need for a broad explanation.

Suggested Citation

  • Andrew Fenelon, 2013. "An examination of black/white differences in the rate of age-related mortality increase," Demographic Research, Max Planck Institute for Demographic Research, Rostock, Germany, vol. 29(17), pages 441-472.
    • Handle: RePEc:dem:demres:v:29:y:2013:i:17
    DOI: 10.4054/DemRes.2013.29.17
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    Cited by:

    1. Elizabeth Wrigley-Field, 2020. "Multidimensional Mortality Selection: Why Individual Dimensions of Frailty Don’t Act Like Frailty," Demography, Springer;Population Association of America (PAA), vol. 57(2), pages 747-777, April.
    2. Joseph T. Lariscy, 2017. "Black–White Disparities in Adult Mortality: Implications of Differential Record Linkage for Understanding the Mortality Crossover," Population Research and Policy Review, Springer;Southern Demographic Association (SDA), vol. 36(1), pages 137-156, February.
    3. Sarah E. Dehry & Patrick M. Krueger, 2023. "Excess Deaths in the United States Compared to 18 Other High-Income Countries," Population Research and Policy Review, Springer;Southern Demographic Association (SDA), vol. 42(2), pages 1-14, April.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    mortality; United States of America; crossover; senescence; aging;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • J1 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demographic Economics
    • Z0 - Other Special Topics - - General

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