Is median age at death a useful way to monitor improvements in mortality among Indigenous Australians?
In the absence of better information, trends in the MAAD for Indigenous Australians may provide a way of assessing whether mortality rates are decreasing, but large sample sizes are needed to distinguish real change from statistical noise. Comparisons of trends in the MAAD between Indigenous and non-Indigenous Australians are even more difficult to interpret. Resources should be directed towards improving the validity of rates, for example, through linkage of routine data or investing in additional data collection.
A novel BBS1 mutation was identified, most probably a founder mutation, further confirming the Faroe Islands as a genetic isolate. The phenotypic expression of the Faroese patients suggests that different mutations in BBS1 affect various organs differently.