Abstract
This paper is the first step in an exploration of Soviet cause-of-death statistics which became accessible after 1986. Its main aim is the reconstruction of consistent annual series for the period 1970–1987 in spite of changes in cause-of-death classification caused by the 1980 revision of the Soviet nosological system. In a second part, the series thus reconstructed are analysed to describe the main features of the evolution of mortality during these two decades, using first standardized mortality rates for several very important specific causes and, second, using a method of decomposition of life expectancy changes. For the first time, trends in causes of death are thus shown for the crucial period where life expectancy has grown again after two decades of regression.
Résumé
Cet article constitue la première étape d'une exploration des statistiques soviétiques de décès par cause, devenues disponibles à partir de 1986. Il a pour principal objectif la reconstruction de séries annuelles cohérentes pour la période 1970–1987, en traitant les ruptures introduites par la révision de la Classification soviétique de 1980. La méthode utilisée pour ce faire est exposée dans la première partie. Dans une deuxième partie, les résultats ainsi obtenus permettent de décrire les grands traits de l'évolution de la mortalité au cours de ces deux décennies, d'abord sur la base de taux comparatifs de mortalité pour des causes spécifiques, puis grâce à une décomposition des variations de l'espérance de vie. Pour la première fois on peut ainsi suivre l'évolution des causes de décès dans une période déterminante au cours de laquelle, après deux décennies de recul, les progrès de l'espérance de vie ont repris.
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Meslé, F., Shkolnikov, V. & Vallin, J. Mortality by cause in the USSR in 1970–1987: the reconstruction of time series. Eur J Population 8, 281–308 (1992). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01796624
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01796624