Ethnic Mortality Differentials in Lithuania: Conflicting Evidence from Longitudinal Census-Linked and Unlinked Data

Domantas Jasilionis, Max Planck Institute for Demographic Research
Dmitri A. Jdanov, Max Planck Institute for Demographic Research
Vladimir Shkolnikov, Max Planck Institute for Demographic Research

This study uses a unique data set from Lithuania containing aggregated mortality data based on the individual linkage of deaths in 2001-2004 to the population census of 2001. The data include information about ethnicity of the same deceased, obtained from two sources: 1) self-reported information from the census and 2) information reported by proxy informants from death records. The study systematically examines disagreements between the census and the death registry information in reporting the ethnicity of the deceased. Using Poisson regression, we identify relationships between misreporting of ethnicity in death records and selected socio-demographic variables. We produce group-specific estimates of life expectancy and mortality rate ratios and compare those derived from the census-linked data with those based on the census-unlinked data. Finally, using higher quality census-linked data, we examine age- and cause-specific patterns of ethnic mortality differentials in Lithuania.