This study examines the association of socioeconomic status (SES) with mortality and two self-reported measures of health (self-rated health and functional status), using data from the most recent two waves (2005 and 2008) of Chinese Longitudinal Healthy Longevity survey. Our study yields three significant findings. First, while the results vary by measures used, we find overall strong evidence for a positive association between SES and health. Second, SES is more strongly inversely related to mortality from more preventable causes (i.e., circulatory disease and respiratory disease), than from less preventable causes (i.e., cancer). Third, access to medical care is of greater importance in explaining the association between SES and health, relative to social relations and health behaviors. Overall, the results provide support for the fundamental cause theory.

Mortality in Taiwan has declined since 1920, and life expectancy has dramatically increased. This paper attempts to explain how the mortality decline and the increase in life expectancy have been slowing down. Adopting the notion of temporary life expectancy, it is shown that while the temporary life expectancies of those aged under 60 have approached the age interval as a natural upper limit, the main force of continued mortality decline shifted to the older age groups, and the momentum of mortality decline began to dwindle away. Applying Gompertz's survival function l(x) = Ab qx to the life table survivors l x in order to extend beyond the upper limit arbitrarily set up by the vital statistics, it is demonstrated that while b is simply A inverted, measuring the level of survival, the q parameter measures the steepness of the decline of survivors along with age. It is found that q is consistently related to Keyfitz's entropy measure evaluated at age 0 and the variance of death numbers d(x) derived from the survival function l(x). All three measures moved south as the increase in life expectancy at birth kept slowing down. A mortality compression is obviously in place, hindering the continuing increase in life expectancy. It is suggested that the b and q parameters of the Gompertz survival function, as simple and natural as they are, can be applied to the examination of the rectangularization of the survival curve in place of the angle and other intriguing measurements.

Earthquakes, typhoons and many natural disasters often cause comprehensive damage and destruction to human life and health in a very short time. The survivors of natural disasters bear physical and mental damage, which increases the risk of death. Particularly, the middle-aged and elderly are most vulnerable after natural disasters, due to their weakened physiological conditions. Their demand for medical care is also higher than that of other age groups. Most past work addressed the immediate impact of disasters on the morality risk of survivors, while little literature has focused on the aftermath of natural disasters to the morality risk of survivors. In this study, we use the National Health Insurance database and explore the mortality risk of the 921 Chi-Chi Earthquake's survivors. Specifically, we study the mortality risk of earthquake survivors aged 50 and beyond in Nanto and Taichung counties (the disaster area), and compare them with those in Changhua county (a non-disaster area). The major findings include the face that the earthquake caused severe casualties within a short period of time, yet the survivors still had higher a mortality risk, which was about 1.27 times higher than that of the people of the non-disaster area for the first 3 months after the earthquake, and 1.16 times higher one year later. This suggests that the earthquake's effect on the mortality risk did not disappear immediately after the disaster and, in fact, lasts almost one year. Our results can provide the government with some policy implications regarding the assessment of emergency medical care and long-term care for the elderly.

No abstract available.