Association between frailty and subjective life expectancy in Sub-Saharan Africa: Evidence from Côte D'Ivoire

Frailty and Subjective Life Expectancy are important determinants of the health and well-being of older adults. This study aims to investigate the relationship between frailty and Subjective Life Expectancy in Sub-Sahara Africa.

This study is a cross-sectional study involving 1,017 older adults aged 50 years and above across three regions of Côte d'Ivoire. A 30-item Frailty Index was used to determine the prevalence of frailty. Subjective Life Expectancy was measured using self-reported estimates of expected lifespan. The point estimate and probabilistic procedures were used, with target ages set at 60, 80, 85, and 90 years. A non-parametric estimation procedure was used to compute the average life expectancy at individual level based on data from the probabilistic procedure. The distributional effects of frailty on Subjective Life Expectancy were assessed with the quantile selection model.

The results indicate that, more than half (59.3 %) of the study participants were frail, 24.6 % were pre-frail and 16.1 % were non-frail. Being frail was negatively associated with Subjective Life Expectancy. Frail individuals had up to 3.7 years lower Subjective Life Expectancy compared to the non-frail individuals. Compared to individuals aged 50-54, those aged 55-59 and 80+ years had 4.8 and 27.8 years lower Subjective Life Expectancy respectively.

The study demonstrates a close connection between frailty and Subjective Life Expectancy among older adults, suggesting that interventions aimed at preventing or reducing frailty can influence Subjective Life Expectancy and overall well-being.