Old age mortality in Eastern and South-Eastern Asia

Abstract

BACKGROUNDEastern and South-Eastern Asian countries have witnessed a markeddecline in old age mortality in recent decades. Yet no studies haveinvestigated the trends and patterns in old age mortality andcause-of-death in the region.OBJECTIVEWe reviewed the trends and patterns of old age mortality andcause-of-death for countries in the region.METHODSWe examined data on old age mortality in terms of life expectancy at age65 and age-specific death rates from the 2012 Revision of the WorldPopulation Prospects for 14 countries in the region (China, Hong Kong,Democratic People's Republic of Korea, Indonesia, Japan, Lao People'sDemocratic Republic, Myanmar, Malaysia, Mongolia, Philippines, Republicof Korea, Singapore, Thailand, and Viet Nam) and data on cause-of-deathfrom the WHO for five countries (China, Hong Kong, Japan, Republic ofKorea, and Singapore) from 1980 to 2010.RESULTSWhile mortality transitions in these populations took place in differenttimes, and at different levels of socioeconomic development and livingenvironment, changes in their age patterns and sex differentials inmortality showed certain similarities: women witnessed a similar declineto men in spite of their lower mortality, and young elders had a largerdecline than the oldest-old. In all five countries examined forcause-of-death, most of the increases in life expectancy at age 65 inboth men and women were attributable to declines in mortality fromstroke and heart disease. GDP per capita, educational level, andurbanization explained much of the variations in life expectancy andcause-specific mortality, indicating critical contributions of thesebasic socioeconomic development indicators to the mortality decline overtime in the region.CONCLUSIONSThese findings shed light on the relationship between epidemiologicaltransition, changing age patterns of mortality, and improving lifeexpectancy in these populations.