Background: The study examines the differentials in child mortality existing in the different settlements in Soweto Townships as at May 2002. It attempts to establish the association existing between housing settlement and under-five mortality and as well examine how household characteristics such as building materials, source of drinking water, sanitation facilities and source of energy is associated with under-five mortality. Methods: The research comprises secondary data analysis of a household survey conducted in Soweto in May 2002 by Perinatal HIV Research Unit. The aim of the study is to describe child mortality and explore its relationship to five different housing settlements in Soweto Townships. Kaplan Meier curves were fitted to examine differentials in child mortality in the different housing settlements and Log rank test was used to compare the survival curves. Logistic regression models were fitted to establish factors that were associated with under-five mortality in Soweto Townships as a whole. Results: A total of 2741under-five surviving children and 84 under-five deaths were studied. Informal settlements recorded the highest overall under-five mortality rate (15.9 per 10000 child years) while private sector housing settlement recorded the least (3.3 per 10000 child years) of all the housing settlements. The overall under-five mortality in Soweto Townships was 10.4 per 10000 child years. After controlling for other household characteristics settlement was significantly associated with high under-five mortality (Council settlement OR 3.3, P=0.032, 95 CI; 1.113, 10.24, Informal settlement OR 5.10, P=0.005, 95% CI; 1.633, 15.99 and Hostel settlement OR 4.09, P=0.012, 95% CI; 1.357, 12.35). Use of paraffin and candles were also significantly associated with high under-five mortality (OR 3.4, P-value<0.001, 95% CI; 2.416, 19.15 and OR 7.2 P-value=0.014, 95% CI; 1.25, 8.88 respectively). Conclusions: Private sector housing settlements reported lower under-five mortality rates in Soweto Townships (3.3 per 10,000 child years) and was less associated with high mortality in comparison to the other housing settlements (Informal, council and hostel housing settlements) in Soweto Townships. Use of paraffin and candles for lighting in households were mainly associated with high under-five mortality in Soweto Townships in comparison to those households that used of electricity.

This thesis explores occupational fatalities to American males for the years 1998 and 1999. The focus is on predicting the likelihood that the individual will sustain an occupational injury resulting in death based on an occupational status score. Demographic variables measuring Southern residence, race, ethnicity, marital status, education and age were also included in analyses. Research questions include whether or not individuals in higher status occupations are at a decreased risk of sustaining an occupational fatality, and how the demographic variables included effect occupational fatalities. Using data from death certificates allowed me to measure the individual’s occupational status based on their “usual occupation” and find out whether or not differences exist. The thesis involves two analyses, one with the sample comprised of only males between the ages of 25 and 55 and one including only married males between the ages of 25 and 55. Logistic regression is employed as the method of analysis to model the odds of the risk of sustaining an occupational fatality that results in death. The results of the first model found only marital status to be positively and significantly related to occupational fatalities. Black, Hispanic, South and education were found to be negatively related to occupational fatalities. The main hypothesis of this thesis was not supported, however because the regression shows that with each increase on the occupational status index, no significant increase or decrease occurred in sustaining an occupational injury that resulted in death. In the second regression that included only married males, many of the relationships no longer existed. Hispanic and the education variable both lost statistical significance. The only variables to maintain significance were black and South, which were both associated with a decreased risk of sustaining an occupational injury that resulted in death. Problems with the occupational status index as a predictor for the likelihood of sustaining an occupational fatality and restrictions of the data may be the main issue that resulted in a lack of findings.

This is a multi–essay dissertation in the area of mortality risk management. The first essay investigates natural hedging between life insurance and annuities and then proposes a mortality swap between a life insurer and an annuity insurer. Compared with reinsurance, capital markets have a greater capacity to absorb insurance shocks, and they may offer more flexibility to meet insurers’ needs. Therefore, my second essay studies securitization of mortality risks in life annuities. Specifically I design a mortality bond to transfer longevity risks inherent in annuities or pension plans to financial markets. By explicitly taking into account the jumps in mortality stochastic processes, my third essay fills a gap in the mortality securitization modeling literature by pricing mortality securities in an incomplete market framework. Using the Survey of Consumer Finances, my fourth essay creates a new financial vulnerability index to examine a household’s life cycle demand for different types of life insurance.

Diss. (sammanfattning) Stockholm : Karol. inst. / Härtill 6 uppsatser.

Thesis (M.S.)--University of Wisconsin--Madison, 1965. / eContent provider-neutral record in process. Description based on print version record. Bibliography: l. [114]-118.

Infant mortality has been viewed widely as an important indicator of population health status. The infant mortality rate in British Columbia has fallen dramatically during the past three decades, and this province now has lowest rate in Canada. The infant mortality rate of Canada is the third lowest rate in the world, higher only than that of Japan and Sweden. Despite this general decline, however, geographical inequalities in infant mortality still exist in British Columbia at the Health Unit level. Reducing differences in health status amongst regions is a goal which has been addressed recently at the international level. “Health for All by year 2000” is a public health goal set by the World Health Organization. This dissertation seeks to investigate whether or not regional inequalities in infant mortality rates in British Columbia have fallen in the same way that the provincial mortality rate as a whole has declined. Secondly, it seeks to explore, etiologically and ecologically, any potential factors which may be responsible for existing geographical inequality in infant mortality at the Health Unit scale. To achieve these goals an index of geographical inequality, essentially a weighted coefficient of variation, was first developed. This index was then compared to the provincial infant mortality rate to examine its temporal trend and to determine whether or not geographical inequalities in infant mortality have been declining in parallel to the mortality rate as a whole. Multi-variate analyses were then performed on selected etiological and ecological factors in order to identify significant factors responsible for Health Unit specific high infant mortality rates. They were used also to identify important ecological factors which may be responsible for the high prevalence rates of the more significant etiological factors leading to elevated infant mortality rates in specific Health Units. Using these results, interactive relationships amongst ecological determinants, etiological factors, and infant mortality rates were established. These analyses established that regional variations in infant mortalities have not been reduced to the same degree as the provincial infant mortality rate. This is especially true of the post-neonatal mortality rate for which regional differences have increased during the past 10 years. This result leads to the conclusion that infant health status in specific Health Units has not improved in comparison to that in others. Multi-variate analysis suggests that the teenage birth rate is responsible for much of the regional inequality in post-neonatal mortality, and that family income level is the ecological factor which determines the prevalence of the teenage birth rate in specific Health Units. If this relationship is correct, it implies that the teenage birth rate should be reduced and the family economic condition should be improved, in order to mitigate regional inequalities in the infant mortality rate in British Columbia. / Graduate

No description available.

Thesis (M.S.)--Boston University / PLEASE NOTE: Boston University Libraries did not receive an Authorization To Manage form for this thesis or dissertation. It is therefore not openly accessible, though it may be available by request. If you are the author or principal advisor of this work and would like to request open access for it, please contact us at open-help@bu.edu. Thank you. / 2999-01-01

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Texas at Austin, 2001. / Vita. Includes bibliographical references. Available also from UMI/Dissertation Abstracts International.

published_or_final_version / abstract / toc / Statistics and Actuarial Science / Master / Master of Philosophy