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Biomedical subjects

A I Hermalin

Publications and source records attributed to A I Hermalin.

At least 19 recordsLinked to original sources
PubMed2001

Advocacy in epidemiology and demography.

This paper is a summary of a panel discussion at the Conference on Epidemiology and Demography held at Georgetown University, in Washington D.C. on February 8-9, 2001. The participants were Al Hermalin, Linda Martin, Mike Stoto, Robert Wallace, Douglas Weed, and Rose Li (who chaired the session). A list of questions similar to the section headings in this paper was prepared in advance of the conference, and each of the participants was asked to address specific issues, although the presentations typically covered a range of topics. This summary also includes comments from the floor.

Consumer Advocacy↗
PubMed2001

Greater collaboration across the disciplines: challenges and opportunities.

This paper reports a panel discussion--Opportunities for and Limitations to Greater Collaboration Across the Disciplines--held at the conference. It highlights the need for greater collaboration between demographers and epidemiologists and notes the institutional and disciplinary challenges to and opportunities for promoting greater cooperation.

Demography↗
PubMed1998

The effect of education on mortality among older Taiwanese and its pathways.

The present research examines the impact of education on the mortality of older Taiwanese during a 4-year interval from April 1989 to April 1993. Data used for this study come from the Taiwan Survey of Health & Living Status of the Elderly (1989). The research decomposes the effect of education into the direct effect and the indirect effects by means of health status, health behaviors, and social relationships. We have shown that, of the total effect of educational attainment on the mortality of older Taiwanese, about 83% represents indirect influences by means of the 3 mediating factors, particularly health status. On the other hand, the magnitude of the direct effect, which might reflect influences of additional intervening variables on old-age mortality, is low and not statistically significant. The results demonstrate that the apparent strong effect of education on mortality among older Taiwanese can be accounted for parsimoniously through 3 major pathways.

Aged↗
PubMed1992

Census-based approaches for studying aggregate changes in characteristics of the elderly.

"This article illustrates a few simple techniques and approaches for using census data on the elderly more completely." The authors find that "by fully exploiting census and similar data, it is possible for analysts to gain insights about the future composition of the elderly, the changing status of the elderly in relation to younger groups, and the rate at which key cohorts are changing in various characteristics." The geographical focus is on developing countries.

Adult↗
PubMed1991

Birth spacing and infant mortality: evidence for eighteenth and nineteenth century German villages.

Data from an historical population in which fertility control was minimal and modern health services were mostly unavailable are used to show that there appears to have been a strong association between previous birth interval length and infant mortality, especially when the previous child survived. Although only imperfect proxies for breast-feeding practices and other potentially confounding factors are available for this population, the results suggest that the association between previous interval length and infant mortality in this population is not solely, or primarily, a function of differences in breast-feeding behaviour or socioeconomic status. Other factors, e.g. maternal depletion or sibling competition, are more likely to explain the observed association.

Birth Intervals↗
PubMed1984

Effects of birth rank, maternal age, birth interval, and sibship size on infant and child mortality: evidence from 18th and 19th century reproductive histories.

There has been long-standing interest in the effects of maternal age, birth rank, and birth spacing on infant and child mortality. Contradictory inferences about the role of these factors have arisen on occasion because of the absence of adequate controls, the use of cross-sectional or incomplete reproductive histories, and inattention to the effect of family size goals and birth limitation practices. This study analyzes completed reproductive histories for German village populations in the 18th and 19th centuries, a period when deliberate fertility control was largely absent. Our results confirm previous studies of the association of infant mortality with maternal age, although in the present data these differentials are largely limited to neonatal mortality. They also confirm the importance of birth interval as a factor in infant mortality. Sibship size is positively related to infant mortality even when birth rank is controlled. However, once sibship size is controlled, there are no systematic differences in infant and child mortality by birth order. The mechanisms relating sibship size and mortality are explored.

Adult↗
PubMed1984

A multilevel model of family planning availability and contraceptive use in rural Thailand.

This paper assesses the ways in which the availability of family planning program outlets influences the likelihood of contraceptive use in rural Thailand. It focuses on a village-level measure of actual availability of sources rather than respondent perceptions of availability. Individual-level and village-level data collected as part of the second Thailand Contraceptive Prevalence Survey are used to test three hypotheses about the effects of actual availability: that (a) availability of family planning outlets increases the likelihood of contraceptive use; (b) it enhances the effect of a desire for no more children on the likelihood of use; and (c) it weakens the positive relationship between education and the likelihood of use.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1979

Do intentions predict fertility? The experience in Taiwan, 1967-74.

Are responses to survey questions about desire for additional children useful in predicting future fertility? Data from Taiwan covering the years 1967--74, a period of rapid fertility decline and increasing contraceptive practice, indicate that reproductive intentions and contraceptive use were very good predictors of subsequent fertility. Whether more children were wanted was itself the most important determinant of contraceptive use. Aggregate consistency between attitudes and behavior was higher than found in US surveys during the same period. Similar studies are needed to determine whether statements of intentions have predictive value in other settings as well.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1975

Do statements about desired family size predict fertility? The case of Taiwan, 1967-1970.

The predictive accuracy of respondents' statements about their future fertility is examined, using interview data from a longitudinal study conducted in Taiwan. Two measures of preference are found to be highly intercorrelated; and regardless of which one is used, Taiwanese women are shown to predict their subsequent fertility at least as well as U.S. women. The preference measures are also predictive of rates of contraceptive use and abortion. While demographic and social characteristics are correlated with fertility in expected directions, statements about wanting more children prove to be highly predictive of subsequent fertility for both modern and less advanced segments of the population.

Abortion, Induced↗