East Asian countries have experienced rapid demographic transitions. Compared to the
developed world, East Asian countries have been able to take on the medical and the industrial
technologies all at once and, as a result, mortality – especially childhood mortality – decreased
sharply. At the regional level1
, the under-five mortality rate decreased from 212 per 1,000 live
births in 1960 to 43 in 2001 [1]. In addition, socioeconomic development, changes in parental
attitude towards child health and education, and highly effective family planning programs
contributed to fast fertility decline [2,3]. Especially China, South Korea, and Taiwan showed by
and large comparable fertility trends despite dissimilarities in family planning policies and the
sequences of total fertility rates. The total fertility rate declined from about 6 in the 1950 to
about 2.5 around 1980 and below the replacement level currently [3-6]. Furthermore, the
demographic transition in this region - in particular the fertility transition - has been studied
extensively related with the rapid economic development [7-9].
However, compared to fertility and child mortality, adult mortality in this region has been
relatively less explored. Studies of adult mortality in less developed countries are often
challenged by difficulties in data collection. Incomplete vital registration, inaccurate censuses,
and age misreporting in both death and population reporting are often reported challenges
[10,11]. Nevertheless, it is increasingly important to understand adult mortality better in order to
respond to emerging issues regarding rapid population aging in the developing world. Changes
in the burden of disease among the population and social security policy would be of particular
interest