scholarly journals Health statistics aren't born in a cabbage patch: Jesuits, political arithmetic, stigmergy and oligopticons

2013 ◽  
Vol 9 (1) ◽  
pp. 91-102
Author(s):  
Yuri Carvajal ◽  
Tuillang Yuing

By analyzing the content and network of production of a map from 1751, created by the circular mission of the Jesuits in Chiloé (an archipelago located off the southern coast of Chile), that contains birth, death and population data, this article discusses the role that health statistics play historically, philosophically, technically and sociologically. In doing so, the article seeks to comprehend the genesis of a process of production of data and references in order to debate what health statistics are composed of, what ends they are used for, what their connection is to the formation of collectives and the differential conditions of possibility that exist for producing statistics. We attempt to develop hypotheses that demonstrate statistics as a hybrid articulation between diverse elements, epistemological, biopolitical, historical and philosophical in nature, with facets at once religious and demographic, ontological and ethnic, scientific and governmental.

2017 ◽  
Vol 45 (2) ◽  
pp. 680-690 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jingjing Li ◽  
Boyang Li ◽  
Fengfan Zhang ◽  
Yang Sun

Objective To evaluate effects attributable to age, time period and birth cohort, on stroke mortality data from urban and rural regions in China between 1988 and 2013. Methods Mortality data were obtained from the Chinese Health Statistics Annual Report (1987–2001) and Chinese Health Statistics Yearbooks (2003–2014). Population data were obtained from population censuses (i.e. 1982, 1990, 2000 and 2010). Data were analysed using an age-period-cohort (APC) model and intrinsic estimation (IE) method. Results The age effect suggested that all older residents had higher stroke mortality risk than younger residents. Period effect showed that compared with figures for 1988, stroke mortality in 2013 was 1.8 times higher for urban regions and 2.4 times higher for rural regions. After controlling for age and period effects, cohorts born before the Chinese economic reform had a steady decline in stroke mortality. However, mortality rates increased and fluctuated in post-reform cohorts. Conclusions This APC-IE analysis identified a modest period effect with large age and cohort contributions to both the overall mortality and the disparity between urban and rural stroke mortality. Identifying early life and cumulative risk factors for stroke, improving equality in stroke prevention and care are needed to reduce the stroke mortality in China.


2020 ◽  
pp. 216769682095647
Author(s):  
Jake J. Hays ◽  
Sarah R. Hayford ◽  
Frank F. Furstenberg

Desistance from the risky behaviors associated with adolescence is linked to entry into adult roles like marriage and employment. Increases in the age of these transitions may delay desistance from risky behaviors. Using population data from the Bureau of Justice Statistics and the National Center for Health Statistics, and tabulated data from Monitoring the Future, we chart trends in six problem behaviors—arrests, marijuana use, binge drinking, suicides, homicides, and motor vehicle deaths—between 1975 and 2017. We find delays in desistance from some behaviors. For instance, binge drinking peaked at ages 19–22 in earlier birth cohorts but at ages 23–26 in later birth cohorts. However, other behaviors showed no change in the timing of desistance. Women’s rates approached men’s in binge drinking and suicide, but gender gaps persist across behaviors. Delayed transitions to adult roles have not produced a singular pattern of delayed desistance from problem behaviors.


1986 ◽  
Vol 23 (04) ◽  
pp. 1013-1018
Author(s):  
B. G. Quinn ◽  
H. L. MacGillivray

Sufficient conditions are presented for the limiting normality of sequences of discrete random variables possessing unimodal distributions. The conditions are applied to obtain normal approximations directly for the hypergeometric distribution and the stationary distribution of a special birth-death process.


Crisis ◽  
2014 ◽  
Vol 35 (1) ◽  
pp. 5-9 ◽  
Author(s):  
Daniel Hideki Bando ◽  
Fernando Madalena Volpe

Background: In light of the few reports from intertropical latitudes and their conflicting results, we aimed to replicate and update the investigation of seasonal patterns of suicide occurrences in the city of São Paulo, Brazil. Methods: Data relating to male and female suicides were extracted from the Mortality Information Enhancement Program (PRO-AIM), the official health statistics of the municipality of São Paulo. Seasonality was assessed by studying distribution of suicides over time using cosinor analyses. Results: There were 6,916 registered suicides (76.7% men), with an average of 39.0 ± 7.0 observed suicides per month. For the total sample and for both sexes, cosinor analysis estimated a significant seasonal pattern. For the total sample and for males suicide peaked in November (late spring) with a trough in May–June (late autumn). For females, the estimated peak occurred in January, and the trough in June–July. Conclusions: A seasonal pattern of suicides was found for both males and females, peaking in spring/summer and dipping in fall/winter. The scarcity of reports from intertropical latitudes warrants promoting more studies in this area.


Author(s):  
Charlott A. Schoenborn ◽  
Patricia F. Adams ◽  
Patricia M. Barnes ◽  
Jackline L. Vickerie ◽  
Jeannine S. Schiller

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