The Black/White Mortality Crossover: Investigation from the Perspective of the Components of Aging

Several possible explanations for the lower mortality rates of Blacks relative to whites at advanced ages in the U.S. population are discussed and evaluated. The plausibility of the “crossover” is investigated via an analysis of the cause and age-specific mortality rates for the U.S. population in 1969. An evaluation of two proposed models accounting for processes leading to the crossover effect is made by determining their consistency with both the observed mortality data and independent biological, clinical and epidemiological evidence on racial differences in the etiology of the causes of death.