HOME HELP FEEDBACK SUBSCRIPTIONS ARCHIVE SEARCH TABLE OF CONTENTS		QUICK SEARCH:   [advanced] Author: Keyword(s): Year:  Vol:  Page:

This Article Full Text Full Text (PDF) All Versions of this Article: AJPH.2008.158188v1 100/2/357    most recent Submit a response View Shopping Cart Alert me when this article is cited Alert me when eLetters are posted Alert me if a correction is posted Services Similar articles in this journal Similar articles in PubMed Alert me to new issues of the journal Download to citation manager Citing Articles Citing Articles via Google Scholar Google Scholar Articles by Sloan, F. A. Articles by Grossman, D. Search for Related Content PubMed PubMed Citation Articles by Sloan, F. A. Articles by Grossman, D. Related Collections Aging African Americans/Blacks Other Race/Ethnicity Mortality Other Statistics/Evaluation/Research

Frank A. Sloan, PhD, Padmaja Ayyagari, PhD, Martin Salm, PhD and Daniel Grossman, BA

Frank A. Sloan is with the Department of Economics, Duke University, Durham, NC. Padmaja Ayyagari is with the Department of Epidemiology and Public Health, Yale University, New Haven, CT. Martin Salm is with the Department of Econometrics and Operations Research, Tilburg University, Tilburg, The Netherlands. Daniel Grossman is with the Center for Health Policy, Duke University.

Correspondence: Correspondence should be sent to Frank Sloan, PhD, J. Alexander McMahon Professor of Health Policy and Management, 236 Social Sciences Building, Box 90097, Department of Economics, Duke University, Durham, NC 27708 (e-mail: fsloan{at}duke.edu). Reprints can be ordered at http://www.ajph.org by clicking the "Reprints/Eprints" link.

Objectives. We sought to assess whether the disparity in mortality rates between Black and White men decreased from the beginning to the end of the 20th century.

Methods. We used Cox proportional hazard models for mortality to estimate differences in longevity between Black and White Civil War veterans from 1900 to 1914 (using data from a pension program) and a later cohort of male participants (using data from the 1992 to 2006 Health and Retirement Study). In sensitivity analysis, we compared relative survival of veterans for alternative baseline years through 1914.

Results. In our survival analysis, the Black–White male difference in mortality, both unadjusted and adjusted for other influences, did not decrease from the beginning to the end of the 20th century. A 17% difference in Black–White mortality remained for the later cohort even after we controlled for other influences. Although we could control for fewer other influences on longevity, the Black–White differences in mortality for the earlier cohort was 18%.

Conclusions. In spite of overall improvements in longevity, a major difference in Black–White male mortality persists.