Cohort Effects

Cohort effects are variations in factors such as health status or mortality that are attributed to the unique physical and social environment to which a cohort is exposed during its lifetime. A commonly used synonym is generation effects.

A cohort is defined as an aggregate of individuals within a specified population who experience the same event (e.g., birth) at the same time or within the same time interval, and who are observed over time. A cohort is usually identified by the event itself and by the time period during which the event occurs, and also, at least implicitly, by geographic location, that is, the physical environment. For example, the U.S. birth cohort of 2000 includes all persons born in the United States in the calendar year ...