 | The 131st Annual Meeting (November 15-19, 2003) of APHA |
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| The 131st Annual Meeting (November 15-19, 2003) of APHA |
Allan Halfar, MHA, HealthMap, Inc., 16 Manhattan Mews, Suite 2300, Saint Louis, MO 63108, 314/652-0110, atworx@aol.com and Louise Celine Quesada, MPH, Planning and Information, City of Saint Louis Department of Health, 634 North Grand Ave, Saint Louis, MO 63103.
One summary statistic of an area’s health status/inequalities is life expectancy. The advantages of using life expectancy are; 1) It is easily comparable between areas, and 2) it is easily understood by the general population.
Life expectancy is defined as the number of years a baby born in an area could be expected to live if it experienced the current age-specific mortality rates of that area throughout its life. Life expectancy is calculated from a life table. Life tables are a series of columns of data; the only data needed are population and the number of deaths in an area.
A problem with this calculation is that the lack of sufficient mortality events makes it difficult to apply to small areas. However, mortality is an outcome related to socio-demographic factors. These factors can be measured on a small area basis. This is a case study of the application of a regression model that used socio-demographic factors as dependent variables to predict life expectancy by neighborhood areas in a major metropolitan area as part of an overall community health status assessment. The factors used as dependent variables were 1) education level, 2) percent female headed households, 3) percent white population. These variables were determined by a stepwise regression analysis of life expectancy against these and other dependent variables.
The session will; 1) discuss research supporting the selection of regression variables, and 2) identify computer software used to analyze individual death record data and format the data for life expectancy calculations.
Learning Objectives:
Keywords: Mortality, Health Assessment
Presenting author's disclosure statement:
I do not have any significant financial interest/arrangement or affiliation with any organization/institution whose products or services are being discussed in this session.