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Living Longer, With or Without Disability? A Global and Longitudinal Perspective
Jinkook Lee1,2, Samuel Lau1, Erik Meijer1,2
1Dornsife Center for Economic and Social Research, University of Southern California, Los Angeles.
Summary
Global life expectancy is increasing, but healthy aging varies. Disability prevalence trends differ worldwide, showing that increased disability in older adults is not inevitable.
Area of Science:
- Gerontology
- Public Health
- Epidemiology
Background:
- While life expectancy has increased globally, gains in healthy years are not uniform.
- Existing theories offer conflicting predictions regarding trends in old-age disability prevalence over time.
Purpose of the Study:
- To compare time trends in disability prevalence across various countries between 2004 and 2014.
- To investigate patterns of disability trends using harmonized longitudinal aging data.
Main Methods:
- Utilized the Gateway to Global Aging Data, containing harmonized longitudinal data.
- Analyzed data from the Health and Retirement Study and its international sister surveys.
- Compared time trends (2004-2014) in disability prevalence across multiple countries.
Main Results:
- Significant cross-country variation in disability prevalence was observed.
- Divergent time trends in disability prevalence were identified; some countries showed increases (Belgium, Czechia, Mexico), while others showed decreases (Denmark, England, Greece, Korea, Poland, Sweden).
- No evidence supported the dynamic equilibrium hypothesis regarding disability severity trends.
Conclusions:
- Gains in life expectancy have resulted in varying increases in healthy life years globally.
- Diverse trends in late-life disability prevalence demonstrate that its expansion is not an unavoidable consequence of population aging.
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