Trends in health expectancies: a systematic review of international evidence.
BMJ Open
; 11(5): e045567, 2021 05 25.
Article
in English
| MEDLINE | ID: covidwho-1243713
ABSTRACT
OBJECTIVES:
A clear understanding of whether increases in longevity are spent in good health is necessary to support ageing, health and care-related policy.DESIGN:
We conducted a systematic review to update and summarise evidence on trends in health expectancies, in Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) high-income countries. DATA SOURCES Four electronic databases (MEDLINE, 1946-19 September 2019; Embase 1980-2019 week 38; Scopus 1966-22 September 2019, Health Management Information Consortium, 1979-September 2019), and the UK Office for National Statistics website (November 2019). ELIGIBILITY CRITERIA English language studies published from 2016 that reported trends in healthy, active and/or disability-free life expectancy in an OECD high-income country. DATA EXTRACTION ANDSYNTHESIS:
Records were screened independently by two researchers. Study quality was assessed using published criteria designed to identify sources of bias in studies reporting trends, and evidence summarised by narrative synthesis.FINDINGS:
Twenty-eight publications from 11 countries were included, covering periods from 6 to 40 years, between 1970 and 2017. In most countries, gains in healthy and disability-free life expectancy do not match the growth in total life expectancy. Exceptions were demonstrated for women in Sweden, where there were greater gains in disability-free years than life expectancy. Gains in healthy and disability-free life expectancy were greater for men than women in most countries except the USA (age 85), Japan (birth), Korea (age 65) and Sweden (age 77).CONCLUSION:
An expansion of disability in later life is evident in a number of high-income countries, with implications for the sustainability of health and care systems. The recent COVID-19 pandemic may also impact health expectancies in the longer term.Keywords
Full text:
Available
Collection:
International databases
Database:
MEDLINE
Main subject:
Pandemics
/
COVID-19
Type of study:
Reviews
/
Systematic review/Meta Analysis
Limits:
Aged
/
Female
/
Humans
/
Male
Country/Region as subject:
Asia
/
Europa
Language:
English
Journal:
BMJ Open
Year:
2021
Document Type:
Article
Affiliation country:
Bmjopen-2020-045567
Similar
MEDLINE
...
LILACS
LIS