Casting Light on the Hispanic Mortality Paradox: A Study of Age Patterns of Mortality at Older Ages

Cassio M. Turra, University of Pennsylvania

This paper uses new estimates of adult Hispanic mortality, based on Medicare-NUMIDENT data, to examine age patterns of mortality among Hispanics between 1980 and 2000. A standard mortality model for low-mortality populations is employed to compare mortality patterns of Hispanics with other aging populations. We evaluate how mortality patterns of Hispanics at older ages differ from patterns of several low-mortality populations with highly reliable data during two distinct periods: 1980-89 and 1990-99. In addition, we examine the possibility that the mortality pattern of Hispanics in the United States follows a more general Latin American pattern. Finally, we investigate the contribution of cause-of-death structures to the variation in the age pattern of mortality between Hispanics and other populations at older ages. Our analysis casts light on some of the explanations for the Hispanic mortality advantage.