Effects of age misreporting on mortality estimates at older ages

This study examines how age misreporting typically affects estimates of mor tality at older ages. We investigate the effects of three patterns of age m isreporting - net age overstatement, net age understatement, and symmetric age misreporting - on mortality estimates at ages 40 and above. We consider five methods to estimate mortality: conventional estimates derived from vi tal statistics and censuses; longitudinal studies where age is identified a t baseline; variable-r procedures based on age distributions of the populat ion; variable-r procedures based on age distributions of deaths; and extinc t generation methods. For each of the age misreporting patterns and each of the methods of mortality estimation, we find that age misstatement biases mortality estimates downwards at the oldest ages.