Disability-free life expectancy estimates for Brazil and major regions, 1998 and 2013

Abstract

Life expectancy at age 60 in Brazil has increased by around nine years in a little over 50 years. This general gain in life expectancy at national level has been heterogeneous across the country’s major regions. Furthermore, little is known about how increases in life expectancy at age 60 across regions influence the number of years lived with some form of associated disability or the number of years lived free from disability. This study aimed to analyze increases in total life expectancy and its components [disability-free life expectancy (DFLE) and disability life expectancy (DLE)] at ages 60, 70, and 80 in Brazil and Major Regions in 1998 and 2013. The study used data on disability obtained from the 1998 National Household Sample Survey (PNAD - acronym in Portuguese) and 2013 National Health Survey (PNS- acronym in Portuguese) and used the Sullivan method to estimate DFLE by sex and age. The findings show that there was an increase in life expectancy and a concomitant increase in DFLE between 1998 and 2013. However, the gains in DFLE were not statistically significant in the North and Center-west regions. This means that, with the exception of the latter regions, in addition to living longer, the Brazils population aged 60 years can expect to live a greater number of healthy years.