Skip to main content

The Effects of Sociodemographic Factors on the Hazard of Dying Among Chinese Oldest Old

  • Chapter
Healthy Longevity in China

Abstract

The oldest old population of China has grown in size and continues to increase. The growth is due to the combination of very low levels of fertility and longer life expectancy in China. However, there is not enough sociological and demographic literature about oldest old mortality in China. In this chapter we undertake Cox proportional hazard analyses and examine the effects of sociodemograhic factors on the hazard of dying among oldest old Chinese. Data on 7,234 oldest old Chinese who were interviewed in the Chinese Longitudinal Healthy Longevity Survey (CLHLS) were used in the analyses. The results indicate that sociodemographic variables such as age, sex, and marital status are strong predictors of the hazard of dying among the oldest old Chinese after controlling for other health-related variables. In terms of the relative impact among the covariates, the age variable is the most influential factor.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this chapter

Chapter
USD 29.95
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
eBook
USD 129.00
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
Softcover Book
USD 169.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Compact, lightweight edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info
Hardcover Book
USD 169.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Durable hardcover edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info

Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout

Purchases are for personal use only

Institutional subscriptions

Preview

Unable to display preview. Download preview PDF.

Unable to display preview. Download preview PDF.

References

  • Aiken, L.R. (2001), Dying, death, and bereavement. Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates

    Google Scholar 

  • Allison, P.D. (1984), Event history analysis: Regression for longitudinal event data. Beverly Hills, CA: Sage

    Google Scholar 

  • Campbell, C. and J.Z. Lee (1996), A death in the family: Household structure and mortality in rural Liaoning: Life-event and time-series analysis, 1792–1867. History of the Family 1, pp. 297–328

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Cleves, M.A., W.W. Gould, and R.G. Gutierrez (2002), An introduction to survival analysis using Stata. College Station, TX: Stata Press Publication, Stata Cooperation

    Google Scholar 

  • Fang, R. (1993), The geographical inequalities of mortality in China. Social Science and Medicine 36, pp. 1319–1323

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hamilton, L.C. (1992), Regression with graphics: A second course in applied statistics, Belmont, CA: Duxbury Press, Wadsworth, Inc. ISBN: 0534159001

    Google Scholar 

  • Hamilton, L.C. (1998), Statistics with Stata 5. Pacific Grove, CA: Brooks/Cole

    Google Scholar 

  • Hao, H. (1995), A study on the sex difference in mortality in China. Chinese Journal of Population Science 7, pp. 285–298

    Google Scholar 

  • Hummer, R.A., R.G. Rogers, S.H Amir, D. Forbes, and W.P. Frisbie (2000), Adult mortality differentials among Hispanic subgroups and non-Hispanic whites. Social Science Quarterly 81, pp. 459–476

    Google Scholar 

  • Kaplan, E.L. and P. Meier (1958), Nonparametric estimation from incomplete observations. Journal of the American Statistical Association 53, pp. 457–481

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Liang, J., J.M. Bennett, H. Sugisawa, E. Kobayashi, and T. Fukuya (2003), Gender differences in old age morality: Roles of health behavior and baseline health status. Journal of Clinical Epidemiology 56, pp. 572–582

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Liu, G. and Z. Zhang (2004), Sociodemographic differentials of the self-rated health of the oldest old Chinese. Population Research and Policy Review 23, pp. 117–133

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Long, J.S. (1997), Regression models for categorical and limited dependent variables. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage

    Google Scholar 

  • Nam, C.B. (1995), Another look at mortality crossovers. Social Biology 42, pp.133–142

    Google Scholar 

  • Poston, D.L. Jr. (2000), Social and economic development and the fertility transitions in mainland China and Taiwan. Population and Development Review26 (supplement), pp. 40–60

    Google Scholar 

  • Poston, D.L. Jr. and C.C. Duan (2000), The current and projected distribution of the elderly and eldercare in the People’s Republic of China. Journal of Family Issues 21, pp. 714–732

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Poston, D.L. Jr., H. Luo, and H.K.M. Terrell (2004), The elderly populations and levels of aged dependency in China and the United States: Past, present and future. Paper presented at the Conference on Chinese Healthy Aging and Socioeconomics: International Perspectives, Duke University, August 20–21

    Google Scholar 

  • Quadagno, J. (1999), Aging and life course. New York: McGraw-Hill

    Google Scholar 

  • Rabe-Hesketh, S. and B. Everitt (2004), A handbook of statistical analyses using Stata. 3rd ed. Boca Raton, FL: Chapman and Hall/CRC

    Google Scholar 

  • Rogers, R.G., R.A. Hummer, and C.B. Nam (2000), Living and dying in the USA: Behavioral, health, and social differentials of adult mortality. San Diego: Academic Press

    Google Scholar 

  • Rowland, D.T. (2003), Demographic methods and concepts. New York: Oxford University Press

    Google Scholar 

  • Trovato, F. and G. Lauri (1989), Marital status and mortality in Canada: 1951–1981. Journal of Marriage and Family 51, pp. 907–922

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Xie, W. (1996), Mortality differential for various levels of education in China. Chinese Journal of Population Science 8, pp. 41–49

    Google Scholar 

  • Xiong, Y. (1989), An analysis of the mortality of the ethnic minorities in China. Chinese Journal of Population Science1, pp. 43–50

    Google Scholar 

  • Yamaguchi, K. (1991), Event history analysis. Newbury Park, CA: Sage

    Google Scholar 

  • Yang, S. (1986), Changes in elderly population and the elderly mortality of the Haimen County. Population Research (Beijing)3 (2), pp. 35–38

    Google Scholar 

  • Yusuf, F and M. Byrnes (1994), Ethnic mosaic of modern China: An analysis of fertility and mortality data for the twelve largest ethnic minorities. Asia-Pacific Population Journal 9 (2), pp. 25–46

    Google Scholar 

  • Zeng, Y. (1989), Aging of the Chinese population and policy issues: Lessons from a rural–urban dynamic projection model. In: 1989 International Population Conference, New Delhi. Liege, Belgium: International Union for the Scientific Study of Population 3, pp. 81–101

    Google Scholar 

  • Zeng, Y. and L.K. George (2000), Family dynamics of 63 million (in 1990) to more than 330 million (in 2050) elders in China. Demographic Research 2, Article 5

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Zeng, Y. and J.W. Vaupel (2002), Functional capacity and self-evaluation of health and life of oldest old in China. Journal of Social Issues 58, pp.733–748

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Zeng, Y., J.W. Vaupel, Z. Xiao, C. Zhang, and Y. Liu (2001), The healthy longevity survey and the active life expectancy of the oldest old in China. Population: An English Selection 13, pp. 95–116

    Google Scholar 

  • Zeng, Y., J.W. Vaupel, Z. Xiao, C. Zhang, and Y. Liu (2002), Sociodemographic and health profiles of the oldest old in China. Population and Development Review 28, pp.251–273

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Zeng, Y., Y. Liu, and L.K. George (2003), Gender differences of the oldest old in China. Research on Aging 25, pp. 63–80

    Google Scholar 

  • Zick, C. and K.R. Smith (1991), Marital transitions, poverty, and gender differences in mortality. Journal of Marriage and Family 53, pp. 327–336

    Article  Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

Authors

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

Copyright information

© 2008 Springer Science+Business Media B.V.

About this chapter

Cite this chapter

Poston, D.L., Min, H. (2008). The Effects of Sociodemographic Factors on the Hazard of Dying Among Chinese Oldest Old. In: Yi, Z., Poston, D.L., Vlosky, D.A., Gu, D. (eds) Healthy Longevity in China. The Springer Series on Demographic Methods and Population Analysis, vol 20. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4020-6752-5_7

Download citation

Publish with us

Policies and ethics