PMID: 9185367Jan 1, 1997Paper

Health expectancy calculations: a novel approach to studying population health in Bulgaria

Bulletin of the World Health Organization
M MutafovaC Maleshkov

Abstract

The measurement of life expectancy in terms of either good or poor health is a novel approach to studying the health of the population in Bulgaria. The pilot study reported here-carried out among people aged > or = 60 years in a middle-sized Bulgarian town-was designed to obtain information on the years of functional restrictions expected among the elderly. In accordance with the answers to a series of questions (recommended by WHO), subjects were categorized as disabled, handicapped, or having different states of perceived health. The indicators "disability-free life expectancy", "handicap-free life expectancy" and "healthy life expectancy" (based on self-perceived health) were calculated according to Sullivan's method. The results show, for example, that 8.0 of the 16.0 years that men aged 60 years may expect to live, on average, will be free of disability. For men aged 80 years the figures are 1.3 of 5.5 years. For women at 60 years and 80 years the results are 7.3 and 0.5 disability-free years of 19.2 and 7.3 expected life years, respectively. Similar results were found for handicap-free life expectancies and healthy life expectancies. At all ages, the proportion of life in a condition free of disability, free of handicap, ...Continue Reading

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