The geography of adult mortality: results from the fuzzy clumping method.

"This study analyses provincial differences in adult mortality (separately for men and women, aged 30-64 years) in Italy between 1984 [and] 1987.... By applying the fuzzy clumping method to mortality rates by cause...groups of provinces can be identified where mortality profiles (irrespective of the intensity) are not only similar for all or only for some of the mortality causes considered, but also specify the grade of similarity common to the provinces in the same group. This method, whereby any single province can belong to several groups, provides an image of the geography of mortality where homogeneous groups are not separated by fixed boundaries but may actually have provinces in common." (SUMMARY IN ITA)