Questionnaire based mortality assessment: an exploratory analysis of NHANES III

Area of Science:

• Life insurance underwriting
• Mortality prediction
• Public health research

Background:

• Increasing acquisition costs and the need for timely sales processes drive demand for efficient life insurance underwriting.
• Traditional underwriting faces challenges in speed and accuracy, necessitating the development of non-traditional methods.
• Accurate mortality prediction is crucial for life insurance risk assessment and pricing.

Purpose of the Study:

• To conduct an exploratory analysis of mortality-linked data from the US NHANES III study.
• To identify potential mortality predictors for insurance applicants, particularly for simplified issue products targeting younger individuals.
• To evaluate the promise of non-traditional health factors in life insurance underwriting.

Main Methods:

• Analysis of mortality-linked data from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey III (NHANES III).
• Exploratory data analysis to identify potential correlations between health behaviors and mortality.
• Focus on individuals aged 17-65 to align with target demographics for simplified issue products.

Main Results:

• Aerobic exercise, dental health, alcohol consumption patterns, and dietary factors were identified as potential mortality predictors.
• These factors show promise for predicting mortality in the 17-65 age group.
• The study highlights several promising areas for further investigation in insurance underwriting.

Conclusions:

• Factors such as exercise, dental health, alcohol intake, and diet may serve as valuable predictors in life insurance underwriting.
• While not immediately applicable, these findings warrant further testing in an insurance application context.
• Future research could involve focus groups, market testing, or incorporating non-actionable questions into applications to gather more data.