Human Mortality Database

In 1997, John R. Wilmoth at the Department of Demography in the University of California, Berkeley started work on a database titled the Berkeley Mortality Database (BMD) with a grant from the National Institute of Aging in the United States.{{cite web|url = http://www.demog.berkeley.edu/~bmd/|title = The Berkeley Mortality Database|access-date = June 20, 2014|publisher = Department of Demography, University of California, Berkeley|archive-date = July 27, 2014|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20140727184334/http://www.demog.berkeley.edu/~bmd/|url-status = dead}} The BMD included data across the entire age range, but was restricted to only four countries (France, Japan, Sweden, and the United States).

For the most part, the Berkeley Mortality Database is now superseded by the Human Mortality Database, but the BMD is still available online because some types of data available in the BMD have not been transferred to the HMD.

The Kannisto–Thatcher Database on Old Age Mortality (KTD) was founded in 1993 by Väinö Kannisto and Roger Thatcher with the support and collaboration of James Vaupel, Kirill Andreev, and many others. The KTD was first developed at Odense University Medical School in Denmark. Since 1996, it has been maintained and developed by the Max Planck Institute for Demographic Research.

Unlike the BMD, the KTD focused only on mortality above the age of 80, but included 30 countries (compared to the BMD, that included data for only 4 countries).

HMD began in 2000 as a collaborative project of the Department of Demographics at the University of California, Berkeley in the United States and the Max Planck Institute for Demographic Research in Rostock, Germany, with funding from the National Institute of Aging in the United States.{{cite web|url = http://www.mortality.org/Public/History.php|title = HMD History|access-date = June 20, 2014|archive-date = May 20, 2014|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20140520121956/http://www.mortality.org/Public/History.php|url-status = dead}} It used data from the BMD (which had launched in 1997) and was also strongly influenced by the Kannisto–Thatcher Database on Old Age Mortality. After about two years of development, the HMD was formally launched in May 2002. HMD inherited the coverage of all age groups from BMD and the coverage of a diverse range of countries from KTD, thus combining the best features of both databases.

The methods protocol of HMD has steadily evolved and was last updated on May 31, 2007.{{cite web|url = http://www.mortality.org/Public/Docs/MethodsProtocol.pdf|title = Methods Protocol for the Human Mortality Database|last1 = Wilmoth|first1 = John R.|last2 = Andreev|first2 = K.|last3 = Jdanov|first3 = D.|last4 = Glei|first4 = D. A.|publisher = Human Mortality Database|date = May 31, 2007|access-date = June 20, 2014|archive-date = May 20, 2014|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20140520123422/http://www.mortality.org/Public/Docs/MethodsProtocol.pdf|url-status = dead}}

In response to the COVID-19 pandemic, the HMD team decided in 2020 to establish a new data resource: Short-term Mortality Fluctuations (STMF) data series in order to provide objective and internationally comparable data.{{cite web|url=http://www.mortality.org|title = The Human Mortality Database|publisher = Human Mortality Database|access-date = February 22, 2022}}

Weekly death counts provide the most objective and comparable way of assessing the scale of short-term mortality elevations across countries and time.

These data are collected for 38 countries: Austria, Australia (Doctor certified deaths), Belgium, Bulgaria, Chile, Canada, Croatia, Czech Republic, Denmark, England and Wales, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Iceland, Israel, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Netherlands, New Zealand, Northern Ireland, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Republic of Korea, Russia, Scotland, Slovenia, Slovakia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Taiwan and the USA.

Sources are national Statistics Office or european organisation Eurostat, based on official Vital record (excepted for Australia: Doctor certified deaths)

STMF Data are published under a CC-BY 4.0 License. They are available through an online STMF visualization toolkit or downloadable in CSV or XLSX format.

HMD data has been cited in academic research in demographic research and other research that relies of demographic data. For instance, there has been considerable research on the biological and evolutionary factors determining mortality and the differences in mortality across human populations.{{cite journal|url = http://evolution.binghamton.edu/evos/wp-content/uploads/2010/10/Kruger-Nesse-Sex-differences-in-mortality-HumanNature.pdf|title = An Evolutionary Life-History Framework for Understanding Sex Differences in Human Mortality Rates|last1 = Kruger|first1 = Daniel J.|last2 = Nesse|first2 = Randolph M.|date = Spring 2006|volume = 17|issue = 1|pages = 74–97|access-date = June 20, 2014|doi = 10.1007/s12110-006-1021-z|pmid = 26181346|journal = Human Nature|citeseerx = 10.1.1.409.5723|s2cid = 5685894|archive-date = May 15, 2013|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20130515062518/http://evolution.binghamton.edu/evos/wp-content/uploads/2010/10/Kruger-Nesse-Sex-differences-in-mortality-HumanNature.pdf|url-status = dead}}{{cite journal|doi = 10.1073/pnas.0809594106|title = Association of FOXO3A variation with human longevity confirmed in German centenarians|last1 = Flachsbarta|first1 = Friederike|last2 = Caliebeb|first2 = Amke|last3 = Kleindorpa|first3 = Rabea|last4 = Blanchéc|first4 = Hélène|last5 = von Eller-Ebersteind|first5 = Huberta|last6 = Nikolausd|first6 = Susanna|last7 = Schreibera|first7 = Stefan|last8 = Nebela|first8 = Almut|journal = Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences|date = February 24, 2009|volume = 106|issue = 8|pages = 2700–2705|pmid=19196970|pmc=2650329|bibcode = 2009PNAS..106.2700F|doi-access = free}}{{cite journal|doi = 10.1038/nature08984|title = Biodemography of human ageing|last = Vaupel|first = James W.|journal = Nature|date = March 24, 2010|volume = 464|pages = 536–542|pmid=20336136|issue=7288|pmc = 4010874|bibcode = 2010Natur.464..536V}}{{cite journal|title = Human mortality improvement in evolutionary context|doi = 10.1073/pnas.1215627109|last1 = Burger|first1 = Oskar|last2 = Baudische|first2 = Annette|last3 = Vaupel|first3 = James W.|journal = Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences|date = October 30, 2012|volume = 109|issue = 44|pages=18210–18214|pmid=23071331|pmc=3497824|bibcode = 2012PNAS..10918210B|doi-access = free}} The data has also been cited in research that attempts to build better predictive models of human mortality.{{cite journal|title = Coherent mortality forecasts for a group of populations: An extension of the lee-carter method|last1 = Li|first1 = Nan|last2 = Lee|first2 = Ronald|journal = Demography|date = August 2005|volume = 42|issue = 3|pages = 575–594|doi = 10.1353/dem.2005.0021|pmid = 16235614|pmc = 1356525}} It has also been cited in research on specific causes of mortality{{cite journal|title = Estimation of potential global pandemic influenza mortality on the basis of vital registry data from the 1918—20 pandemic: a quantitative analysis|last1 = Murray|first1 = Christopher JL|last2 = Lopez|first2 = Alan D|last3 = Chin|first3 = Brian|last4 = Feehan|first4 = Dennis|last5 = Hill|first5 = Kenneth H|journal = The Lancet|volume = 368|issue = 9554|pages = 2211–2218|date = December 23, 2006|doi = 10.1016/S0140-6736(06)69895-4|pmid=17189032|s2cid = 22787011}} and research on the social and economic consequences of changes in mortality.{{cite journal|title = Ageing populations: the challenges ahead|last1 = Christensen|first1 = Kaare|last2 = Doblhammer|first2 = Gabriele|last3 = Rau|first3 = Roland|last4 = Vaupel|first4 = James W.|journal = The Lancet|volume = 374| issue = 9696| pages = 1196–1208|date = October 3, 2009|doi = 10.1016/S0140-6736(09)61460-4|pmid=19801098|pmc=2810516}}

HMD data has been cited in the New York Times,{{cite web|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2008/10/25/opinion/25eberstadt.html?pagewanted=print&_r=0|title = Rising Ambitions, Sinking Population|last = Eberstadt|first = Nicholas|authorlink = Nicholas Eberstadt|date = October 25, 2008|access-date = June 20, 2014|work = New York Times}}{{cite web|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2012/09/21/us/life-expectancy-for-less-educated-whites-in-us-is-shrinking.html?pagewanted=all|title = Life Spans Shrink for Least-Educated Whites in the U.S.|last = Tavernise|first = Sabrina|authorlink = Sabrina Tavernise|date = September 20, 2012|access-date = June 20, 2014|work = New York Times}} the Washington Post,{{cite news|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/wonkblog/wp/2014/01/10/the-beatles-were-the-mitt-romney-of-the-1960s-and-other-policy-lessons-from-the-fab-four/?tid=up_next|title = The Beatles were the Mitt Romney of the 1960s, and other policy lessons from the Fab Four|last = Irwin|first = Neil|date = January 10, 2014|access-date = June 20, 2014|newspaper = Washington Post}} and Foreign Affairs.{{cite web|url=http://www.foreignaffairs.com/articles/136511/nicholas-eberstadt/the-dying-bear|title = The Dying Bear: Russia's Demographic Disaster|date = November–December 2011|access-date = June 20, 2014|work = Foreign Affairs}}

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{{official website|www.mortality.org}}

Category:Longevity

Category:Scientific databases