Deviations from best practices mortality in Mexico: homicides and adult mortality, 1990-2010

Nancy Plascencia, Independent Consultant
Jose Manuel Aburto, Max-Planck Institute for Demographic Research
Ainhoa Alustiza, Max-Planck Institute for Demographic Research
Tim Riffe, Max-Planck Institute for Demographic Research

We analyze trends in temporary life expectancy for three large age groups from 1990 to 2010 for all 32 Mexican states, and compare these with a synthetic best practices trend. We assess the impact of amenable/avoidable mortality on temporary life expectancy at the state level by sex. We apply demographic measures and use standard decomposition techniques to disentangle the effects of selected causes of death. We find improvements in temporary life expectancy for the population aged 0 to 14, as they continuously approached the best practices trend. However, the adult population aged 15 to 39 shows deterioration among males after 2006 in almost every state. Opposing this trend, females show a convergence trend toward the best practices benchmark between ages 15 and 39. Adults aged 40 to 74 show an unexpected decrease in the best practices indicator, and major variation among states in temporary life expectancy. These findings might strengthen the case for reforms that will enable all the Mexicans to improve in their health status.