Stagnation in Mortality Decline Among Elders in The Netherlands

Purpose: This study assesses whether the stagnation of old-age (80+) mortality decline observed in The Netherlands in the 1980s continued in the 1990s and determines which factors contributed to this stagnation. Emphasis is on the role of smoking. Design and Methods: Poisson regression analysis with linear splines was applied to total and cause-specific mortality data by age, year of death (1950–1999), and sex. An age–period–cohort analysis was carried out to determine whether the trends followed period or cohort patterns. ICD revisions were bridged by use of a concordance table. Results: A su... Mehr ...