[Healthy life expectancy and the standardized mortality ratio for the elderly in Japan's 47 Prefectures]

To derive values for life expectancy and healthy life expectancy (number of years people are expected to live without certification as being in need of long-term care) for Japanese at 65 years of age across 47 Prefectures in Japan, based on both national death statistics and long-term care insurance data, and to analyze their relationships with the standardized mortality ratio (SMR) for the elderly aged 65 years and more.

Life expectancy was calculated using Chiang's method and healthy life expectancy using Sullivan's method. The number of years of living with long-term care needed (duration of care need) was determined by subtracting the healthy life expectancy from life expectancy. The SMR was calculated in comparison with that for the nation set at 1. The relationships between the indices were analyzed based on the Spearman rank-order correlation coefficient.

(1) Among the 47 prefectures, healthy life expectancy at 65 years of age in 2004 for males was the longest in Nagano Prefecture (16.72 years) and the shortest in Aomori Prefecture (14.32 years). For females, it was the longest in Yamanashi Prefecture (19.18 years) and the shortest in Osaka Prefecture (16.47 years). (2) Healthy life expectancy for males and females positively correlated with life expectancy, and negatively correlated with the duration of care need and SMR. Life expectancy negatively correlated with SMR for males and females, and, for females, it positively correlated with the duration of care need as well.

(1) Among the 47 prefectures, healthy life expectancy at 65 years of age in 2004 was the longest in Nagano Prefecture and the shortest in Aomori Prefecture. For females, it was the longest in Yamanashi Prefecture and the shortest in Osaka Prefecture. (2) For males and females, lowering the mortality rate as well as the prevalence of ill health with long-term care need is important for extending healthy life expectancy. For females, long life expectancy is associated with a long duration of care needed.