Multivariate Plackett-Dale inference to study the inheritance of longevity in a Belgian village

Abstract

We consider a Plackett-Dale model to study familial transmittance of longevity. We focus the analysis on associations between mother, father and first child, and therefore we work with family clusters of equal size. We propose a series of tests to perform inferences on the model parameters. The methodology is applied to a demographic database of a Flemish village (18th-20th century). The main substantial conclusion is that familial transmission happens mainly via the mother. We explore the impact of such other factors as censoring, gender effect, age at death, etc. This paper complements the results of Matthijs et al. (2002) and suggests further analyses to better understand the precise mechanisms behind these associations.