Life tables
Contents
Introduction
Life tables (or mortality tables or actuarial tables) are tables that indicate the probability that a person in a given population at an certain age will die before their next birthday. They are generally drawn up separately by sex, and may also be drawn up for subsets of a population, taking into account other factors (e.g. ethnicity etc.). These tables are used in several fields, including epidemiology, biology and actuarial science (insurance) to calculate a number of other statistics, including:[1]
- the probability of surviving any particular year of age;
- remaining life expectancy for people at different ages;
- the proportion of the original birth cohort still alive; and
- estimates of a cohort's longevity characteristics.
In the context of integrated environmental health assessment (i.e. the INTARESE method), life tables and the statistics derived from them may be used in the valuation of health impacts.
Graduated life tables vs. interim life tables
Interim life tables may be produced to provide statistics on period life expectancy by age and sex using extrapolation from graduated life table data. For example, in the UK interim life tables are released annually; these are based on the population estimates and deaths data for a period of three consecutive years. These interim life tables are based on fully graduated life tables, which are produced every decade and are based on decennial population censuses.[2]
Life tables and disability-adjusted life years (DALYs)
The DALY calculation tool designed for use in association with the INTARESE methodology uses life tables to calculate years of life lost (YLL).
