Data sources for the estimation of hierarchical models of individual mortality outcomes

In this paper we develop a method for the hierarchical analysis of individual mortality outcomes by pooling data from the Census of Population and Housing Public Use Microdata Samples and Multiple Cause of Death files. This methodology provides a data source for estimating hierarchical event history models that incorporate spatial context into the modeling of mortality outcomes. The implementation of this method will provide researchers a means for understanding how structural factors that cannot be measured by aggregations of individual-level characteristics, such as health infrastructure, community organization, and physical environment, condition health disparities across rural and urban portions of the US.