APPLICATION OF PROBABILITY THEORY TO ANALYZE IMPACT OF DISEASE ON HUMAN LIFE EXPECTANCY

Article type: Research Article

Authors: Imam, S.T. | Ekwaro-Osire, S. | Chyu, M.-C.

Affiliations: Department of Mechanical Engineering, Texas Tech University, Lubbock, TX, USA

Abstract: Aging is a phenomenon that can be observed in biological and mechanical systems. The quest for a general explanation of aging invites us to consider the underlying theory of systems failure known as reliability theory. The objective of this paper is to probabilistically investigate the trends of human aging in different age groups based on their annual mortality rate due to certain disease. Data of two leading causes of death from 2005 to 2008 were analyzed, to determine the significance of the mortality decrease in individual age group, and the sensitivity of each disease with respect to age.

Keywords: probability theory, life expectancy, heart disease, malignant neoplasm, modeling

Journal: Journal of Integrated Design & Process Science, vol. 14, no. 3, pp. 25-35, 2010