title: Mortality patterns among elderly American Jews.
abstract: "Mortality studies of ethnic and religious subgroups within a nation are of interest as they provide indicators of health differentials that may result from differences in life style and risk-factor exposures.  The mortality experience of North American Jews has been documented over many years and is of particular interest because of the unusual pattern that has been observed, a crossover from relatively low rates at younger ages to relatively high rates at older ages.  This study examines mortality in 1979-81 among more than 100,000 Medicare enrollees who held 22 surnames common among American Jews.  The findings substantiate those of a recent mortality study of a Canadian Jewish population which indicated more rapid improvement in life expectancy among elderly Jewish than non-Jewish males, and a lessening of the relative disadvantage of elderly Jewish women."
mesh_terms: D000367:Age Factors; D000569:Americas; D003469:Culture; D003710:Demography; D019049:Developed Countries; D005006:Ethnicity; D007585:Jews; D008017:Life Expectancy; D008136:Longevity; D009026:Mortality; D009656:North America; D011153:Population; D011154:Population Characteristics; D011157:Population Dynamics; D012067:Religion; D012737:Sex Factors; D014481:United States
keywords: Age Factors; Age Specific Death Rate; Americas; Cultural Background; Death Rate; Demographic Factors; Developed Countries; Differential Mortality; Ethnic Groups; Jews; Length Of Life; Life Expectancy--changes; Mortality; North America; Northern America; Population; Population Characteristics; Population Dynamics; Religion; Sex Factors; United States