AGE AT DEATH AND RECTANGULARISATION OF THE SURVIVAL-CURVE - TRENDS INSWITZERLAND, 1969-1994

Objective-To check if signs of rectangularisation of the survival curv e appeared during recent decades in SWitzerland-that is, if life expec tancy is approaching a maximum with a clustering of age at death aroun d an average value (the so called ''compression of mortality''). Metho ds-Descriptive analysis of age of death and its trends over 26 years, as characterised by the modal value, median, and various percentiles b eyond the median, Population-All deaths occurring after the 50th birth day in Switzerland between 1969 and 1994 (n=1 390 362). Main results-A ge at death is increasing at a sustained rate at all percentiles equal or greater than 50, without any slow down in the trend during this pe riod. The increase is more marked among women. Rates of increase are d iminishing as the percentiles of age at death are higher, suggesting s ome clustering of deaths beyond the median value. However, the maximum age at death, if any, seems to be far from the current median values, even for women who enjoy a relatively high median age at death.