Dasvarma, Gouranga Lal
Description
The overall mortality in the developed countries is now at the lowest
level ever recorded. It is believed that any significant gain in longevity
in these countries can be achieved only through a better understanding of the
fundamental processes of ageing. However, despite low mortality, various
socio-economic groups of the population in these countries still exhibit
considerable mortality differentials. There is some evidence to suggest
that such differentials have even increased...[Show more] recently. Thus, there is also
scope for a further reduction in the overall mortality if the existing
differentials are minimized.
The purpose of this thesis is to study differential mortality in the
adult and infant population of Australia.
The male population of working ages classified by occupational groups
exhibited considerable differentials in mortality, both at the beginning
of the century and at the present time (1970-1972). It has been argued
that such differentials reflect not only occupational health hazards, but
to a large extent, socio-economic differentials in mortality caused by
differences in life-style and use of medical and health care facilities.
Variations in infant mortality of the statistical divisions of
Australia in 1970-1972 were significantly correlated with variations in
socio-demographic and environmental characteristics of these divisions.
Chief among these were the proportion of Aboriginal population, the percent
ex-nuptial births and the index of heat discomfort. When statistical
divisions containing large proportions of Aboriginal population were
included in the analysis, the influence of socio-demographic and climatic
variables on infant mortality was mainly through postneonatal mortality. But when such statistical divisions were excluded, the effect of these
variables on infant mortality was mainly through neonatal mortality.
Ethnic groups in Australia (defined by country of birth) had
significantly lower mortality than the Australian-born population in
1970-1972. This has been attributed to medical screening of prospective
immigrants before being admitted to Australia, resulting in the selection
of healthier individuals for immigration. However, the mortality advantage
of an ethnic group tended to become smaller as its duration of residence
in Australia increased. It has been argued that this tendency was due
to the immigrant groups' adoption of the life-styles of the Australian-born
population, in addition to the stresses and strains of adverse living and
working conditions commonly encountered during the initial stages of
settlement in Australia.
This thesis has identified some of the high mortality risk groups in
Australia. Paucity of required information has hindered a comprehensive
explanation of the observed mortality differentials. A strong need for
research into aspects of life-style, working and living conditions and use
of medical and health care facilities among different sections of the
population has been pointed out. Alternative ways of using available data,
such as record-linkage, have also been suggested.
Items in Open Research are protected by copyright, with all rights reserved, unless otherwise indicated.