LONGITUDINAL GOMPERTZIAN AND WEIBULL ANALYSES OF ADULT MORTALITY IN SPAIN (EUROPE), 1900-1992

Mortality data from Spain, 1900 to 1992, were analyzed using Gompertzi an and Weibull functions. Longitudinal Gompertzian analysis demonstrat ed that annual age-specific mortality rate distributions were determin ed by a fixed intersection point (in men: 84.3 years, in women: 89.3 y ears). Two methods of longitudinal Gompertzian analysis were applied. The method based on linear regression indicated that environmental inf luences upon age-related mortality were constant. The method based on a rough estimate of first derivative suggested that environmental infl uences have been decreasing. Both of these methods suggested that gene tic influence upon age-related mortality is greater for men that for w omen. Analysis of Spanish mortality data from 1900 to 1992 suggest tha t the Gompertz function fits age-specific mortality rate distributions in adult men and women better than the Weibull function.