Evidence map›Paper›PMID 26188244›Full record

ArticleTheoretical population biology2015

The entropy of the life table: A reappraisal.

Oscar E Fernandez, Hiram Beltrán-Sánchez

Abstract read
In one paragraph

Article in Theoretical population biology, 2015. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 10 papers.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
10citing papers in PubMed
–field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

10 citing papers in PubMed.

  1. Article
  2. Article
  3. Article
  4. Article
  5. Cross-sectional Average Length of Life Entropy (European journal of population = Revue europeenne de demographie · 2024
    Article
  6. Article
  7. Article
  8. Article
  9. Article
  10. Dynamics of life expectancy and life span equality.Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America · 2020
    Article
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

2 authors.

Oscar E FernandezDepartment of Mathematics, Wellesley College, Wellesley, MA 02482, United States. Electronic address: ofernand@wellesley.edu.
Hiram Beltrán-SánchezCommunity Health Sciences, University of California, Los Angeles, United States. Electronic address: beltrans@ucla.edu.

Funding

Statistical Data Enclave CoreP30AG017266 · NIA · UNIVERSITY OF WISCONSIN-MADISON · PI Michal Engelman · 1999 to 2026
$17.0M
Center for Demography and EcologyR24HD047873 · NICHD · UNIVERSITY OF WISCONSIN-MADISON · PI RAYMO, JAMES M · 2004 to 2013
$7.2M
Diversity supplementT32HD007014 · NICHD · UNIVERSITY OF WISCONSIN-MADISON · PI Katherine J. Curtis · 1985 to 2026
$6.8M
NIA NIH HHS P30 AG017266NIA NIH HHS P30AG017266NICHD NIH HHS R24 HD047873NICHD NIH HHS R24HD047873NICHD NIH HHS T32 HD007014
6 · The paper itself

Abstract

The life table entropy provides useful information for understanding improvements in mortality and survival in a population. In this paper we take a closer look at the life table entropy and use advanced mathematical methods to provide additional insights for understanding how it relates to changes in mortality and survival. By studying the entropy (H) as a functional, we show that changes in the entropy depend on both the relative change in life expectancy lost due to death (e(†)) and in life expectancy at birth (e0). We also show that changes in the entropy can be further linked to improvements in premature and older deaths. We illustrate our methods with empirical data from Latin American countries, which suggests that at high mortality levels declines in H (which are associated with survival increases) linked with larger improvements in e0, whereas at low mortality levels e(†) made larger contributions to H. We additionally show that among countries with low mortality level, contributions of e(†) to changes in the life table entropy resulted from averting early deaths. These findings indicate that future increases in overall survival in low mortality countries will likely result from improvements in e(†).

Indexed as

EntropyLife ExpectancyLife TablesPopulation DynamicsHumansModels, BiologicalEntropyLife tableMortalitySurvival

Identifiers

PMID26188244
PMCPMC6368683

What OpenQuestion holds

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Registered trials

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Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.