SEX-DIFFERENCES IN HUMAN MORTALITY AND AGING AT LATE AGES - THE EFFECT OF MORTALITY SELECTION AND STATE DYNAMICS

Models of gender differences in human mortality and aging depend on as sumptions about temporal rates of physiological change. Simple models like the Gompertz fail to describe the mortality of either males or fe males at late ages. This suggests a need for biologically more detaile d models to represent the age dependency of human mortality as well as gender differences in that age dependence. By modeling the sex-specif ic interaction of time-varying covariates with multiple dimensions of mortality selection, one can more accurately describe the age dependen ce of mortality and more complex physiological aging patterns. The mul tivariate model of aging changes is used to describe gender difference s using data from (a) a longitudinal study of physiological changes an d mortality and (b) a nationally representative longitudinal survey of changes in function and mortality.