Volume 9 - Article 9 | Pages 197–222  

Seasonal mortality in Denmark: the role of sex and age

By Roland Rau, Gabriele Doblhammer

Abstract

Our paper addresses two questions on seasonal mortality: How do women and men differ with respect to seasonal fluctuations in mortality? How does seasonality in death change with age? The analysis is based on a sample of all Danes aged 50 and older on 1 April 1968 being followed for 30 years.
In contrast to previous studies we found remarkable differences between women and men in their seasonal mortality patterns. Men showed larger seasonal fluctuations than women indicating a higher susceptibility to environmental stressful periods. We found that seasonality increases with age. However, we discovered again a sex difference: women's seasonality starts increasing at later ages than men's.

Author's Affiliation

• Roland Rau - Universität Rostock, Germany EMAIL
• Gabriele Doblhammer - Rostocker Zentrum zur Erforschung des Demografischen Wandels, Germany EMAIL

Other articles by the same author/authors in Demographic Research

Gompertz, Makeham, and Siler models explain Taylor's law in human mortality data
Volume 38 - Article 29

Taylor's power law in human mortality
Volume 33 - Article 21

Minor gradient in mortality by education at the highest ages: An application of the Extinct-Cohort method
Volume 29 - Article 19

A systematic literature review of studies analyzing the effect of sex, age, education, marital status, obesity, and smoking on health transitions
Volume 20 - Article 5

Trends in educational mortality differentials in Austria between 1981/82 and 2001/2002: A study based on a linkage of census data and death certificates
Volume 19 - Article 51

Longevity and month of birth: Evidence from Austria and Denmark
Volume 1 - Article 3

Most recent similar articles in Demographic Research

A Bayesian model for age at death with cohort effects
Volume 51 - Article 33    | Keywords: age at death, Bayesian approach, cohort effects, Italy, mortality

On the relationship between life expectancy, modal age at death, and the threshold age of the life table entropy
Volume 51 - Article 24    | Keywords: Gompertz law, life expectancy, lifespan variation, longevity, mode, mortality

The role of sex and age in seasonal mortality – the case of Poland
Volume 51 - Article 17    | Keywords: mortality, Poland, seasonality, sex differences

Data errors in mortality estimation: Formal demographic analysis of under-registration, under-enumeration, and age misreporting
Volume 51 - Article 9    | Keywords: age misreporting, data errors, formal demography, mortality

Socio-behavioral factors contributing to recent mortality trends in the United States
Volume 51 - Article 7    | Keywords: despair, health, mortality, National Health Interview Survey (NHIS), smoking, trends