Determinants of Old-Age Mortality in Taiwan, 1989 to 1999

Zachary Zimmer, Population Council
Linda G. Martin, Population Council
Hui-Sheng Lin, Taiwan National Institute of Family Planning

Relationships among socio-demographic characteristics, general assessments of health, and old-age mortality have been well established in richer countries. There is also an increasing focus on early-life experiences and late-life health. This paper tests these associations using a nationally representative survey from Taiwan of the 60 and over population conducted in 1989, 1993, 1996, and 1999. The study also examines the influence of Taiwan's National Health Insurance Program, instituted in 1995, on old-age mortality and whether this investment in health care benefits elders consistently. Mortality is modeled using Weibull regression. Multiple survey waves are employed to construct time-varying covariates. Education effects are found to diminish after the introduction of health indicators. Functional and global assessments of health have stronger associations with mortality that do reports of chronic conditions such as cardiovascular disease. Older adults in the poorest of health are the ones whose mortality improved the most after 1995.