Between 1991 and 2011, men gained 3.7 years of life expectancy without disability. For women, there were on average two extra years in good health.
- Healthy life expectancy represents the number of years of life without the inability to carry out daily tasks and activities.
- In France, it is 64.1 years for women and 62.7 years for men.
- Cognitive disorders can be memory problems, communication difficulties, slowed thinking, etc.
For several decades, life expectancy has been improving. But under what conditions are these years of life lived “additional“? This question was posed by a team from Newcastle University, UK. The scientists wanted to estimate whether improved life expectancy was linked to years of healthy life, or whether it was marked by more disability and dependency. The results of their work have been published in PLOS Medicine.
A study of people over 65
“There have been advances in health care over the past few decades, which means many people with chronic conditions are living longer.”, explain the authors in the preamble to their work. This research team analyzed data from two large studies of people aged 65 or over in England. Specifically, they included conducting interviews with 7,635 people between 1991 and 1993 and with 7,762 people between 2008 and 2011, with two years of follow-up in each case. In these samples, they looked for cases of chronic illnesses, disabilities, or strokes.
Nearly four years of life expectancy gained
For people in good health and for those suffering from health problems, the average number of years of life expectancy without incapacity or handicap increased from 1991 to 2011, observe the British scientists. Men have gained 4.6 years of life expectancy, but this actually corresponds to 3.7 years without health problems. “Men with conditions such as arthritis, coronary heart disease, stroke and diabetes gained more years in good health than years with disability”, say the authors. Which means that this improvement in healthy life expectancy affects everyone, even people with chronic illnesses.
The impact of cognitive impairment
Between 1991 and 2011, women experienced an increase in life expectancy at age 65 of 2.1 years and an increase in healthy life expectancy of 2 years. For them too, this improvement also concerns women with chronic illnesses. On the other hand, the authors note that there is no improvement in life expectancy in good health in the case of cognitive disorders. This was not the case for men. “Given that cognitive impairment was also the only long-term condition where life expectancy decreased, this is cause for concern and requires further investigation.“, say the authors.
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