Public Health Economics
Meeting 1: Introduction to summary measures of population health &
the (Sullivan) life table
Part 1: Population Health Measurement
SMPH:
- Allow comparison of
o Different countries
o Different subgroups within countries (e.g. socio-economic status)
o Countries overt time
- With the goal to identify
o Progress
o The impact of interventions (economic evaluations/ HTA/ CEA)
o Disadvantaged populations/ subgroups in need
Measures
- Death rate per country
o More in Russia, South of Africa
o To be able to compare, death rates/ per cent numbers are not enough
- Infant mortality world wide
o Specifically focus on mortality
o Infant mortality in Africa is high
- Death rates comparison in age category across countries (time trends)
o Death rates per age group in time across countries
- Different age groups in 1 country over time
Measuring population health
- Counting the dead says something, but does not tell the whole story
o It does not reflect (life) time
▪ Age composition?
▪ Not able to compare ‘overall’ but only in age groups
- LE is a simple measure to compare mortality over time, across countries etc.
o Translate mortality risk at different ages into time:
▪ Average amount of years lived
• Make life time comparisons over time and across countires
Part 2: The life table
Life table
- A useful tool to summarize mortality probabilities
- At the heart of modelling the impact of public health interventions
- A simple way to create survival curves and calculate life expectancy
- Can be extended to calculate DFLE/ QALE and expected lifetime health care expenditures
o DFLE: disability free life expectancy
o QALE: quality adjusted life expectancy
Life expectancy
The crucial lifetime equation
1
, - Continuous: above
o LE: Area under the curve of the survival
curve
▪ Integral of the survival function
at a specific age until infinity
▪ Age A= death age A>a
- Discrete: below
o More closely related to life table
o Not the integral, but sum up survival function over different ages
The Survival Curve
- age 20: =±0.45.
- Probability that someone at age 0 will still be alive
at age 20 = 0.45
- LE: area under the survival curve
- Age 0: LE is the integral from 0- infinity (purple
area)
- Remaining LE at age 20: part of the survival curve
after age 20.
o Purple area/ probability still alive at 20
o Only interested in people that are still alive
at a specific age
- mortality rate
o is the ratio of people dying within a certain period
and the amount of time lived (A/ B)
▪ line A/ surface B
o For each point in time/ for each age interval. The
people that die in that interval, related to the total
number of life years lived is constant. Relation AB
is the same
o The average number of life years lived between
ages 0 and 20 is B
▪ Someone with age zero has a …% chance
to make it to age 20
o LE= 1/m
▪ B/A= D/C= 1/m: ratio is equal in all points
2
,Survival curve in practice
- We only know the number of deaths
per age
Part 2B: What is a life table?
- A collection of age specific mortality probabilities
- A table which shows
o For each age, what the probability is that a person of that age will die before their
next birthday
o From this starting point, a number of statistics can be derived and thus also included
in the table
▪ The probability of surviving any particular year of age
▪ Remaining life expectancy for people at different ages
▪ The proportion of the original birth cohort still alive
▪ Estimates of a cohorts longevity characteristics
John Graunt (1620- 1674)
- Inventor of the life table
- Left: at age 0, there are 100 newborns, between
age 0-6: 0.36/ 36% died
o 100-36= 64
o 64- (64*37.5%=24)= 40
o Continue this process
- Assumption: all these birth rates/ death rates
are constant
o Does not hold (elderly vs young)
Calculation of the life table
- Age x
- Mortality risk q(x)
o Probability that someone dies between age x and
x+1
- Number of survivors at x (radix) l(x)
- Deceased:
o How many die at each age
- Years lived between x and x+1 L(x)
- Total years lived after x T(x)
- Life expectancy at x e(x)
3
, How to calculate the life table/ life table functions
- You start with a table with x and q(x)
o X: age
o q(x): the probability to die between x and x+1
▪ q(X) is input to the life table
- Calculate l(x), d(x)
o l(x) l(x)= the number of survivors to age x
▪ I(0), the radix is usually set at 1000 or 100000
▪ l(x)= I(x-1)*(1-q(x-1))
▪ for the second year: l(x)= x,t=1 – d(x)
o d(x)= the number of persons dying between x and x+1
▪ l(x)* q(x)
- Calculate L(x): years lived between a and x+1. We assume that those who died between x
and x+1, we assume that they live half a year
o l(x, t+1) + 0.5*d(x, t=1)
o last age interval: l(x)/ m(x)
- T(x)= the number of person=years lived after x
o Start at bottom/ the end
o T(x)= L(X)+ T(x+1)
o Last year: l(x)/ m(x)
- Calculate e(x)= average number of total life years lived per person
o T(x)/ l(x)
o Is decreasing at higher ages (logically)
o And higher above age 1 (infant mortality)
- Make a Curve: l(x)
o LE is the area under the curve
o Example remaining LE at age 3
▪ T(X) / l(x)= e(x)
4
The benefits of buying summaries with Stuvia:
Guaranteed quality through customer reviews
Stuvia customers have reviewed more than 700,000 summaries. This how you know that you are buying the best documents.
Quick and easy check-out
You can quickly pay through credit card or Stuvia-credit for the summaries. There is no membership needed.
Focus on what matters
Your fellow students write the study notes themselves, which is why the documents are always reliable and up-to-date. This ensures you quickly get to the core!
Frequently asked questions
What do I get when I buy this document?
You get a PDF, available immediately after your purchase. The purchased document is accessible anytime, anywhere and indefinitely through your profile.
Satisfaction guarantee: how does it work?
Our satisfaction guarantee ensures that you always find a study document that suits you well. You fill out a form, and our customer service team takes care of the rest.
Who am I buying these notes from?
Stuvia is a marketplace, so you are not buying this document from us, but from seller puckdewaal. Stuvia facilitates payment to the seller.
Will I be stuck with a subscription?
No, you only buy these notes for $10.20. You're not tied to anything after your purchase.