Recent Trends in Older Adult Mortality in Sub-Saharan Africa : an Analysis of the Modal Age at Death in Late Life

Soumaïla Ouedraogo, New York University Abu Dhabi
Nadine Ouellette, Département de Démographie, Université de Montréal
Géraldine Duthé, Institut National d'Études Démographiques (INED)

This study aims to highlight recent trends in older adult mortality in sub-Saharan African countries looking at the patterns of modal age at death in late life (M), which is considered as a specific indicator of longevity. Using secondary 5-year aggregated information about child (5q0) and adult mortality (45q15) from the United Nations World Population Prospects, the analysis will cover forty-four countries from 1990 to 2014. Using indirect model life table systems indexed by child and adult mortality, the first objective of this paper is to know whether M has changed in the recent decades in these countries. The second objective seeks to know whether M is shifting and compressing as in developed countries.