Preparation of mortality abstracts.

We revisit three important articles published in prior issues of the Journal of Insurance Medicine (JIM) that summarize the process of selecting articles for mortality analysis and abstract preparation. The article selection and analysis recommendations put forth in these reprints are part of the core knowledge of Insurance Medicine regularly presented in Mortality courses sponsored by the American Academy of Insurance Medicine. The key concepts of the reprinted articles are reviewed, and key points are emphasized in this commentary. JIM readers are encouraged to submit abstracts for publication in JIM to contribute to this important body of knowledge. The reprinted articles include Kita’s ‘‘Morbidity/mortality abstraction-finding suitable articles’’ (1990;22:267–288), Singer and Kita’s ‘‘Guidelines for evaluation of follow-up articles and preparation of abstracts’’ (1991;23:21– 29), and Kita’s ‘‘Anatomy of an abstract’’ (1991;23:44–45). Address: Swiss Re Life & Health, 1700 Magnavox Way, Fort Wayne, IN 46804; e-mail: brianpivanovic@ swissre.com.