Disability-Free Life Expectancy among People Over 60 Years Old by Sex, Urban and Rural Areas in Jiangxi Province, China.

Shengwei Wang,Songbo Hu,Zhitao Liu,Yuhang Wu,Huilie Zheng,Pei Wang

doi:10.3390/ijerph18094636

Abstract

Objective: To estimate and compare age trends and the disability-free life expectancy (DFLE) of the population over 60 years old in 2018 in Jiangxi Province, China, by sex and urban–rural areas. Methods: The model life table was employed to estimate the age-specific mortality rate by sex and urban–rural areas, based on the Summary of Health Statistics of Jiangxi Province in 2018 and the Sixth National Health Service survey of Jiangxi Province. DFLE and its ratio to life expectancy (LE) were obtained by the Sullivan method. Results: In 2018, the DFLE among people over 60 is 17.157 years for men and is 19.055 years for women, accounting for 89.7% and 86.5% of their LE respectively. The DFLE/LE of men is higher than that of women at all ages. LE and DFLE are higher for the population in urban areas than in rural areas. For women, DFLE/LE is higher in urban areas than in rural areas (except at ages 75 and 80). Urban men have a higher DFLE/LE than rural men (except at age 85). The difference in DFLE between men and women over 60 years is 1.898 years, of which 2.260 years are attributable to the mortality rate, and 0.362 years are due to the disability-free prevalence. In addition, the difference in DFLE between urban–rural elderly over 60 years old is mostly attributed to the mortality rate by gender (male: 0.902/1.637; female: 0.893/1.454), but the impact of the disability-free rate cannot be ignored either (male: 0.735/1.637; female: 0.561/1.454). Conclusions: The increase in DFLE is accompanied by the increase in LE, but with increased age, DFLE/LE gradually decreases. With advancing age, the effect of disability on elderly people becomes more severe. The government administration must implement some preventive actions to improve health awareness and the life quality of the elderly. Rural elderly; rural women in particular, need to be paid more attention and acquire more health care.

Highlights

Continuing evidence suggests that life expectancy is increasing, with a steady declining trend in mortality in both developed and developing countries [1,2,3,4], and the quality of life is becoming a central issue
Disability-free life expectancy (DFLE) is the average number of years lived by a person of a particular age without disability [6], which is a combined measure of mortality and disability
In terms of the DFLE/LE, it drops to 68.1% for men and 52.3% for women in the age 85 group

Summary

Introduction

Continuing evidence suggests that life expectancy is increasing, with a steady declining trend in mortality in both developed and developing countries [1,2,3,4], and the quality of life is becoming a central issue. Do people live more healthily during their long lives, or do they increasingly have sensory, physical, and mental disabilities in their later years [5]?. Disability-free life expectancy (DFLE) is the average number of years lived by a person of a particular age without disability [6], which is a combined measure of mortality and disability. The focus of DFLE is on the quality of life, while the life expectancy (LE) is used to measure the quantity of life a person expects to have. LE is a significant indicator that can be used to allocate resources, measure the success of political programs and understand the changes in the mental, and physical health of the general population [7,8].

Methods

Results

Discussion

Conclusion