Analysis of air pollution mortality in terms of life expectancy changes: relation between time series, intervention, and cohort studies.

ABSTRACT:

Background

Information on life expectancy change is of great concern for policy makers, as evidenced by the discussions of the so-called "harvesting" issue (i.e. the question being, how large a loss each death corresponds to in the mortality results of time series studies).

Methods

Whereas most epidemiological studies of air pollution mortality have been formulated in terms of mortality risk, this paper shows that a formulation in terms of life expectancy change is mathematically equivalent, but offers several advantages: it automatically takes into account the constraint that everybody dies exactly once, regardless of pollution; it provides a unified framework for time series, intervention studies and cohort studies; and in time series and intervention studies, it yields th

SUBMITTER: Rabl A 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC1373624 | biostudies-literature | 2006 Feb

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature