Volume 37 - Article 41 | Pages 1339–1350  

Mortality selection among adults in Brazil: The survival advantage of Air Force officers

By Vanessa di Lego, Cássio M. Turra, Cibele Cesar

Abstract

Background: The impact of extreme conditions on survival has been the focus of mortality studies using military data. However, in countries at peace, the military live in favorable conditions, being positively selected with respect to health. In this type of context, military data may help to improve our understanding of mortality differentials, particularly in countries where defective vital systems are still cumbersome for mortality studies.

Methods: We estimate death rates for Brazilian Air Force (BAF) officers through Poisson regression models, compute life expectancies, and compare them with those of average Brazilians and people in low-mortality countries. We also examine causes of death and mortality differentials through a competing risks framework and Fine and Gray regression models.

Results: BAF life expectancy is higher than that of the average Brazilian and comparable to Sweden, France, and Japan in 2000. Younger pilots have a higher risk of dying on duty when compared with other officers but experience lower mortality rates from other causes at advanced ages.

Conclusions: BAF officers are a population subgroup in Brazil with a life expectancy comparable to the one in advanced societies. There is no association between mortality and place of birth, which indicates that different childhood backgrounds did not affect BAF mortality differentials later in life.

Contribution: This paper takes a novel approach focusing on a specific subgroup with lower mortality rates than the general population and good-quality longitudinal information available, a rarity in developing countries. We argue that this approach can be an interesting strategy to study mortality differentials in developing countries.

Author's Affiliation

• Vanessa di Lego - Wittgenstein Centre for Demography and Global Human Capital (IIASA, OeAW, University of Vienna), Austria EMAIL
• Cássio M. Turra - Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais (UFMG), Brazil EMAIL
• Cibele Cesar - Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais (UFMG), Brazil EMAIL

Other articles by the same author/authors in Demographic Research

Age reporting for the oldest old in the Brazilian COVID-19 vaccination database: What can we learn from it?
Volume 48 - Article 28

World population aging as a function of period demographic conditions
Volume 48 - Article 13

Assessing the quality of education reporting in Brazilian censuses
Volume 42 - Article 15

The number of centenarians in Brazil: Indirect estimates based on death certificates
Volume 20 - Article 20

Most recent similar articles in Demographic Research

Sample selection bias in adult mortality estimates from mobile phone surveys: Evidence from 25 low- and middle-income countries
Volume 51 - Article 37    | Keywords: adult mortality, data collection, mobile phones, selection bias, sibling survival histories

Using household death questions from surveys to assess adult mortality in periods of health crisis: An application for Peru, 2018–2022
Volume 51 - Article 8    | Keywords: adult mortality, data quality, household surveys, Peru

Racial classification as a multistate process
Volume 50 - Article 17    | Keywords: Brazil, demography, increments to life, life expectancy, life table, mortality, multistate, race/ethnicity

The vanishing advantage of longevity in Nicoya, Costa Rica: A cohort shift
Volume 49 - Article 27    | Keywords: adult mortality, blue zones, extreme longevity, long-lived populations, median life, old-age survival

Age reporting for the oldest old in the Brazilian COVID-19 vaccination database: What can we learn from it?
Volume 48 - Article 28    | Keywords: age misreporting, Brazil, COVID-19, mortality crossover, oldest old, population aging, vaccinations