Life table

From WikiMD's medical encyclopedia

Life table, also known as a mortality table or actuarial table, is a statistical tool used in demography, actuarial science, healthcare, and life insurance to understand the mortality rates and life expectancy of a population.

Overview

A life table is a table which shows, for each age, what the probability is that a person of that age will die before his or her next birthday. It is used to present life expectancy, survival probabilities, and death probabilities. The life table represents mortality rates used in calculation of life insurance premiums and pension benefits.

Construction

A life table is created based on a specific starting population, sorted by age. The most basic life table is constructed using death rates and population data. The data is collected over a specific period of time, and the table is updated as new data becomes available.

Types of Life Tables

There are two types of life tables used in demographic analysis:

  • Cohort Life Table: Also known as a generation life table, it is based on mortality experience of a real birth cohort (all individuals born in a given year) from the time of birth through the course of their lives.
  • Period Life Table: It is based on mortality experience of a population during a relatively short period of time. Here, mortality does not depend on age but on the calendar period.

Uses

Life tables are used in a variety of fields including demography, actuarial science, healthcare, and life insurance. They are used to understand the mortality rates and life expectancy of a population, and to calculate insurance premiums and pension benefits.

See Also

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Life table

  • Excerpt from CDC 2003 Table 1

  • Life expectancy increases with age already achieved - chart

  • Remaining life expectancy - US

  • Data from National Vital Statistics Report tPx.png

    Data from National Vital Statistics Report

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Contributors: Prab R. Tumpati, MD