A new method to attribute differences in total deaths between groups to population size, age structure and age-specific mortality rate

Xunjie Cheng; Liheng Tan; Yuyan Gao; Yang Yang; David C Schwebel; Guoqing Hu

doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0216613

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A new method to attribute differences in total deaths between groups to population size, age structure and age-specific mortality rate

Journal article

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A new method to attribute differences in total deaths between groups to population size, age structure and age-specific mortality rate

Xunjie Cheng, Liheng Tan, Yuyan Gao, Yang Yang, David C Schwebel and Guoqing Hu

PloS one, Vol.14(5), p.e0216613

05/10/2019

DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0216613

PMCID: PMC6510436

PMID: 31075117

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Abstract

Two decomposition methods have been widely used to attribute death differences between two populations to population size, age structure of the population, and age-specific mortality rate (ASMR), but their properties remain uninvestigated. We assess how the two established decomposition methods yield varying results with three-factor factorial experimental designs, illustrating that they are sensitive to the choice of the reference group. We then propose a novel decomposition method to obtain robust decomposition results and use three cases to demonstrate its advantage. The three decomposition methods differ fundamentally in their allocation of interactions to the contributions of the three factors. In comparison with the existing methods, the new method is robust to the choice of the reference group. Three case studies showed inconsistent attribution results for the two existing methods but robust results for the new method when the choice of the reference population changes. The proposed method offers robust and more justifiable attribution results compared to the two existing methods. This method could be generalized to attribution of group differences of other health indicators.

Accidental Falls - mortality

Adolescent

Adult

Age Distribution

Age Factors

Aged

Aged, 80 and over

Algorithms

Child

Child, Preschool

China - epidemiology

Humans

Middle Aged

Mortality - trends

Population Density

Research Design

United States - epidemiology

Young Adult

Details

Title: Subtitle: A new method to attribute differences in total deaths between groups to population size, age structure and age-specific mortality rate
Creators: Xunjie Cheng - Central South University
Liheng Tan - Central South University
Yuyan Gao - Central South University
Yang Yang - University of Florida
David C Schwebel - University of Alabama at Birmingham
Guoqing Hu - Central South University
Resource Type: Journal article
Publication Details: PloS one, Vol.14(5), p.e0216613
DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0216613
PMID: 31075117
PMCID: PMC6510436
NLM abbreviation: PLoS One
ISSN: 1932-6203
eISSN: 1932-6203
Grant note: R37 AI032042 / NIAID NIH HHS
Language: English
Date published: 05/10/2019
Academic Unit: Research Administration
Record Identifier: 9984949179902771

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