# OLD-AGE MORTALITY--LIFE-TABLE AGING RATE ANALYSIS

> **NIH NIH R01** · ROCKEFELLER UNIVERSITY · 1992 · $65,012

## Abstract

What are the mechanisms of aging? The study of this fundamental question
in gerontology is not limited to laboratory and clinical studies but is
extended to demogaphic and epidemiological research, because age patterns
of mortality and morbidity reflect some aspects of underlying mechanisms
of progressive senescence.  Recent studies using the life-table aging
rate (LAR), defined as the rate of relative mortality increase with age,
show distinct mathematical patterns of all-cause and cause-specific
mortality in the first derivative of the logarithm of age-specific death
rate.  The clarity and regularity of the patterns suggest that they
reflect some underlying processes.

This project, therefore, will study relationships between aging and
mortality through LAR patterns.  The following questions are raised:

1. (All-cause mortality) A previous study on the mortality of old women
shows that the LAR rises with age at younger old ages and declines with
age at older old ages, resulting in a bell-shaped curve peaking around
age 75.  Why does the LAR follow such a trajectory?

2. (Cause-specific mortality) What age patterns does the LAR exhibit for
each of the major causes of death? Do biomedical theories on
relationships between aging and disease explain those cause-specific LAR
patterns?

3. (Interrelationships) What mechanisms combine different LAR patterns of
cause-specific mortality into the bell-shaped LAR curve of all-cause
mortality?

4. (Trends) Are there any systematic trends in LAR patterns of all-cause
and cause-specific mortality? If so, what explains the trends?

5. (Sex differentials) Are there any sex differentials in LAR patterns of
all-cause and cause-specific mortality? If so, what explains the sex
differentials?

The central aim of this project is to investigate these problems by (a)
analyzing internationally compiled data on death rates classified by age,
sex and causes of death, (b) linking observed LAR patterns with
biomedical theories on aging and disease, and (c) developing mathematical
models on relationships between aging, disease and mortality based on
results of (a) and (b).

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 3122402
- **Project number:** 1R01AG010518-01
- **Recipient organization:** ROCKEFELLER UNIVERSITY
- **SAM.gov UEI:** LHGDNJMZ64Y1
- **Principal Investigator:** SHIRO HORIUCHI
- **Activity code:** R01 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 1992
- **Award amount:** $65,012
- **Award type:** 1
- **Project period:** 1992-08-01 → 1995-07-31

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/3122402

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 3122402, OLD-AGE MORTALITY--LIFE-TABLE AGING RATE ANALYSIS (1R01AG010518-01). Retrieved via MORVS 2026-10-25 from https://api.morvs.ai/grant/nih/3122402. Licensed CC0.

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