Influence of cause-of-death structure on age patterns of mortality in Mauritius

Over the period 1969-86, Mauritian mortality declined rapidly, accompanied by substantial change in its age pattern of mortality and cause-of-death structure. Using cause-of-death data for this period, this paper studies the influence of cause-of-death structure on age patterns of mortality. Infectious and parasitic diseases had marked influence on age patterns of mortality for young Mauritian males, while circulatory causes of death influenced the age pattern of mortality for older Mauritian males. For females, their unique age pattern of mortality remained unique, largely because of the uniform and smooth change in cause-of-death structure.