The challenge for demographers, taken up by this book, is to move away from description towards explanation. The first section is concerned with the more theoretical aspects of conceptual models and frameworks for the analysis of adult mortality. The second section deals with the diversity of mortality patterns and trends among industrialized countries, searching for explanations in the context of the conceptual models proposed earlier. This is followed by a series of chapters which focus on the causes and extent of differentials in adult mortality, paying particular attention to sex, region of residence, and socio-economic status. The final section of the book draws heavily on the North American experience to consider some of the policy and programme implications necessary to reduce preventable adult mortality levels further - including government policies to control smoking and alcohol abuse, and to promote healthful behaviour patterns. It also indicates areas of future research.

With sharp declines in infant and child mortality during the twentieth century, virtually all deaths in developed countries now occur among adults. Demographers have long been aware, however, of the great diversity of adult mortality experience within and among countries, due to a host of interactions between societal, environmental, biological and behavioural variables, the mechanisms of which, for the most part, remain elusive.