International Journal of Epidemiology, Vol 28, 955-963, Copyright © 1999 by International Epidemiological Association
C Robertson and R Ecob
BACKGROUND: We seek to model the regional component of the variance in the
mortality rates in the UK and to ascertain if there is evidence that this
regional variance is increasing in recent periods. METHODS: Age Period
Cohort (APC) models, based on the local 'curvatures', are used in each
region to describe the changes in the trends in the mortality rates. This
is extended to a multilevel model to estimate the regional component of the
variance in the rates and to estimate the effect of regional differences in
the trends in the rates. We show how the use of a multilevel APC model can
help to distinguish the cohort and period trends in the mortality rates
from the cohort and period effects on the regional variance in these rates.
RESULTS: For both sexes, but particularly for females, a reduction in the
rate of decrease in mortality was found around 1960. In addition,
particularly for females, cohorts born after 1930 appear to show reductions
in mortality at an increased rate. It is demonstrated that there is
evidence that the between-region variation in the rates has not remained
constant and that it is much less now than it was at the beginning of the
data series. Further, there is evidence that the trends in the rates are
not the same in all regions and that while there is a convergence of the
rates in many regions, Scotland, in particular, stands out as a region
which contributes most to the regional variation in mortality rates.
CONCLUSION: Evidence of regional variation in mortality rates has been
found with a suggestion of a decrease over the period of the study though
with some stability since 1951.
ARTICLES
Simultaneous modelling of time trends and regional variation in mortality rates
Division of Epidemiology and Biostatistics, European Institute of Oncology, Milan, Italy. crobert@ieo.it
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