Rethinking morbidity compression

Area of Science:

• Gerontology
• Public Health
• Biostatistics

Background:

• Morbidity compression studies often report average unhealthy years, neglecting variation in onset age.
• Identifying disease postponement requires understanding variation in morbidity onset, as highlighted by Fries (1980).

Purpose of the Study:

• To estimate the variation in morbidity onset using first hospitalization after age 60 as an example.
• To analyze trends in age at first hospitalization and its variation over a 27-year period in Denmark.

Main Methods:

• Utilized population-based registers for annual estimates of first hospitalization and population at risk (1987-2014).
• Constructed sex-specific life tables to calculate average age, threshold age, and coefficient of variation in age at first hospitalization.

Main Results:

• The average age at first hospitalization (lasting ≥2 days) increased from 67.8 to 69.5 years for men and 69.1 to 70.5 years for women.
• The variation in age at first hospitalization also increased, with the coefficient of variation rising from 9.1% to 9.9% for men and 10.3% to 10.6% for women.

Conclusions:

• Danish populations are aging with better health outcomes compared to the past.
• There is increasing diversity in healthy aging experiences, necessitating adaptation in pensions, social care, and health services to accommodate heterogeneous aging populations.