Term of Award
Spring 2020
Degree Name
Doctor of Public Health in Biostatistics (Dr.P.H.)
Document Type and Release Option
Dissertation (restricted to Georgia Southern)
Copyright Statement / License for Reuse
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
Department
Department of Biostatistics (COPH)
Committee Chair
Robert Vogel
Committee Member 1
Hani Samawi
Committee Member 2
Haresh Rochani
Abstract
The overarching goal of public health research is to eliminate diseases and prolong lives. The concept of life table analyses to measure the impact of eliminating a cause of death was first introduced by Daniel Bernoulli when he used mathematics to show changes in life expectancy if smallpox were hypothetically eliminated in the population. Since then, considerable work has been done in developing the mathematics of cause-elimination using a competing-risks framework. In this dissertation, we apply single and multiple decremental life table methods to examine the potential increase in life expectancy among the United States population when some of the top-leading causes of death are assumed to be completely eliminated. In addition, considering that human life is finite, we assess the probability of death from other “emerging” causes of death following the complete elimination of all types of cancer as well as the impact on quality-adjusted life years. Lastly, we examine whether a complete elimination of deaths from all types of cancer will reduce healthcare costs. This is important for health planning, resource allocation and the setting of public health policy.
Recommended Citation
Kanda, Deborah A., "Life Table Analyses of the Impact of Eliminating Particular Causes of Death Using the United States 2016 Population" (2020). Electronic Theses and Dissertations. 2073.
https://digitalcommons.georgiasouthern.edu/etd/2073
Research Data and Supplementary Material
No
