Examples of early mortality follow-up studies.

Numerous mortality studies may be found in publications of the life insurance industry dating back about a century. Examples presented include mortality in asthma history (1903), overweight (1844-1905), and hypertension (1907-11). The favorable effect of underwriting selection on mortality was recognized early, and standard insurance mortality tables in North America have always distinguished between select and ultimate mortality rates. The mortality ratio has been the traditional measure of excess mortality in insurance follow-up studies. Similar mortality studies in the medical literature before 1920 are extremely difficult for investigators to locate. One important exception with regard to methodology and completeness of comparative mortality and survival results was a 20-year follow-up of pulmonary tuberculosis patients after discharge that was reported in 1908.