Impact of Diabetes on Life and Healthy Life Expectancy Among Older Women

Author(s):  
Befikadu L Wubishet ◽  
Julie E Byles ◽  
Melissa L Harris ◽  
Carol Jagger

Abstract Background Diabetes is a major chronic condition with ever-increasing health and economic burden. This study aimed to measure the impact of diabetes on total life expectancy (TLE) and healthy life expectancy (HLE) at ages 70 and 80 and to assess how educational level, obesity, and comorbidity affected the expectancies. Methods The study involved 9849 population-representative women born between 1921 and 1926 from the Australian Longitudinal Study on Women’s Health (ALSWH). Self-rated health was obtained from the ALSWH surveys. Diabetes diagnosis was ascertained using survey and health care administrative data. Total life expectancy and HLE were estimated for women with and without diabetes using multistate modeling. Results Diabetes was associated with an increased risk of poor health (adjusted risk ratio: 1.63, 95% confidence interval: 1.49–1.79). Diabetes was also associated with a reduction of 0.9 years in HLE and 2.6 years in TLE at age 70 and 0.4 years in HLE and 1.3 years in TLE at age 80. If a woman had low education, obesity, and more than 2 comorbidities in addition to diabetes, these reductions increased to 3.0 years in TLE and 7.9 years in HLE at age 70 and 1.5 years in TLE and 3.8 years in HLE at age 80. Conclusions Diabetes substantially reduced older women’s quantity and quality of life, with further reductions for those with lower education, obesity, and comorbidities. These findings underscore the importance of optimally managing diabetes by maintaining a healthy weight and delaying the onset of comorbidities, to promote healthy aging for older women with diabetes.

2017 ◽  
Vol 46 (1) ◽  
pp. 124-131 ◽  
Author(s):  
Siri H. Storeng ◽  
Steinar Krokstad ◽  
Steinar Westin ◽  
Erik R. Sund

Aims: Norway is experiencing a rising life expectancy combined with an increasing dependency ratio – the ratio of those outside over those within the working force. To provide data relevant for future health policy we wanted to study trends in total and healthy life expectancy in a Norwegian population over three decades (1980s, 1990s and 2000s), both overall and across gender and educational groups. Methods: Data were obtained from the HUNT Study, and the Norwegian Educational Database. We calculated total life expectancy and used the Sullivan method to calculate healthy life expectancies based on self-rated health and self-reported longstanding limiting illness. The change in health expectancies was decomposed into mortality and disability effects. Results: During three consecutive decades we found an increase in life expectancy for 30-year-olds (~7 years) and expected lifetime in self-rated good health (~6 years), but time without longstanding limiting illness increased less (1.5 years). Women could expect to live longer than men, but the extra life years for females were spent in poor self-rated health and with longstanding limiting illness. Differences in total life expectancy between educational groups decreased, whereas differences in expected lifetime in self-rated good health and lifetime without longstanding limiting illness increased. Conclusions: The increase in total life expectancy was accompanied by an increasing number of years spent in good self-rated health but more years with longstanding limiting illness. This suggests increasing health care needs for people with chronic diseases, given an increasing number of elderly. Socioeconomic health inequalities remain a challenge for increasing pensioning age.


2002 ◽  
Vol 14 (1-2) ◽  
pp. 99-117 ◽  
Author(s):  
Colin D. Mathers ◽  
Christopher J. L. Murray ◽  
Alan D. Lopez ◽  
Ritu Sadana ◽  
Joshua A. Salomon

2021 ◽  
Vol 9 ◽  
Author(s):  
Huiling Dong ◽  
Chunjing Du ◽  
Bingyi Wu ◽  
Qunhong Wu

Background: Child malnutrition is not only common in developing countries but also an important issue faced by developed countries. This study aimed to explore the influence and degree of childhood starvation on the health of the elderly, which provides a reference for formulating health-related policies under the concept of full lifecycle health.Methods: Based on the Chinese Longitudinal Healthy Longevity Survey (CLHLS) in 2008, 2011, and 2014, this study took a total of 13,185 elderly people aged 65–99 years as the target population. By IMaCH software, with gender and income level as the control variables, the average life expectancy and healthy life expectancy of the elderly were measured. The x2test was used to explore the differences in the socioeconomic status of elderly people with or without starvation in childhood. Statistical differences between average life expectancy and healthy life expectancy were analyzed by rank tests.Results: (1) The results showed that there was a statistically significant difference in age, gender, residency, education level, and income level between the groups with or without starvation (P < 0.05). (2) Transition probabilities in health–disability, health–death, and disability–death all showed an upward trend with age (P < 0.05), where the elderly who experienced starvation in childhood were higher than those without such an experience (P < 0.05). However, the probability of disability–health recovery showed a downward trend with age (P < 0.05), in which the elderly who experienced starvation in childhood were lower than those without starvation (P < 0.05). (3) For the elderly who experienced starvation in childhood, the health indicators of the average life expectancy, healthy life expectancy, and healthy life expectancy proportion accounted for the remaining life were lower than those of the elderly without childhood starvation (P < 0.05).Conclusions: The average life expectancy and healthy life expectancy of the elderly with childhood starvation are lower than those without childhood starvation. It shows that the negative impact of childhood starvation on health through the life course till old age has a persistent negative cumulative effect on the quantity and quality of life. Therefore, it is important to pay attention to the nutritional status of children in poor families from the perspective of social policymaking.


2019 ◽  
Vol 3 (4) ◽  
Author(s):  
Luciana Correia Alves ◽  
Flávia Cristina Drumond Andrade ◽  
Ligiana Pires Corona ◽  
Jair Licio Ferreira Santos ◽  
Yeda Aparecida De Oliveira Duarte

Abstract Background and Objectives Frailty is considered one of the major conditions faced by aging societies. Little has been reported about the effect of becoming frail on life expectancy among older adults in developing countries. The aim was to estimate total life expectancy and life expectancy with or without frailty by age, sex, and education among older adults in Brazil. Data and Methods:  The study was developed based on information provided by the Health, Well-being, and Aging (SABE) Study. The sample included 1,399 older adults (≥60 years old) followed up from 2006 to 2010. Frailty status was classified according to the Fried criteria. Additional variables include age (in years), gender, and years of education. Estimates of total life expectancy, frailty-free life expectancy, and frailty life expectancy were obtained using the multistate life table method. Results At the baseline, the proportion of individuals with frailty was 13.7% and participants had, on average, 4.0 years of education. Men had more years of education than women (4.6 vs. 3.7, p < .001). Older adults with higher education live fewer years with frailty. Compared with older adults with no education, those with 6 years of education have higher frailty-free life expectancy. At age 70, men with no education expect to live 9.1 years (95% confidence interval [CI] = 7.8, 10.4) without frailty compared with 10.6 years (95% CI = 9.4, 11.8) among those with 6 years of education. Among women age 70, frailty-free life expectancy reaches 11.7 years (95% CI = 10.6, 12.8) among those with no education, but 13.9 years (95% CI = 12.5, 15.3) among those with 6 years. Implications Given the recent changes in educational achievement in Brazil, we believe that educational policies are powerful ways in addressing inequalities in healthy life expectancy. Public health policies aimed at avoiding the development of frailty among elderly at risk should be encouraged.


2021 ◽  
pp. 1-3
Author(s):  
Zoe Pafili

The increasing prevalence of older adults with diabetes has become a major social burden. Diabetes, frailty, and cognitive dysfunction are closely related to the mechanisms of aging. Insulin resistance, arteriosclerosis, chronic inflammation, oxidative stress, and mitochondrial dysfunction may be common mechanisms shared by frailty and cognitive impairment. Hyperglycemia, hypoglycemia, obesity, vascular factors, physical inactivity, and malnutrition are important risk factors for cognitive impairment and frailty in older adults with diabetes. The impact of nutrients on health outcomes varies with age; thus, shifting diet therapy strategies from the treatment of obesity/metabolic syndrome to frailty prevention may be necessary in patients with diabetes who are over 75 years of age, have frailty or sarcopenia, and experience malnutrition. For the prevention of frailty, optimal energy intake, sufficient protein and vitamin intake, and healthy dietary patterns should be recommended. The treatment of diabetes after middle age should include the awareness of proper glycemic control aimed at extending healthy life expectancy with proper nutrition, exercise, and social connectivity. Nutritional therapy in combination with exercise, optimal glycemic and metabolic control, and social participation/support for frailty prevention can extend healthy life expectancy and maintain quality of life in older adults with diabetes mellitus.


2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Huiling Dong ◽  
Bingyi Wu ◽  
Qunhong Wu

Abstract Background: Child malnutrition is not only common in developing countries, but also an important issue faced by developed countries. This study aimed to explore the influence and degree of childhood starvation on the health of the elderly, which providing a reference for formulating health-related policies under the concept of full-life cycle health. Methods: Based on Chinese Longitudinal Healthy Longevity Survey (CLHLS) in 2008, 2011 and 2014, this paper took a total of 13,185 elderly people aged 65-99 years as the target population. By IMaCH software, with age, gender, and income level as the control variables, and the average life expectancy and healthy life expectancy of the elderly was measured. The test was used to explore the differences in socio-economic status of elderly people with or without starvation in childhood. The paired t test was used to analyze the difference both average life expectancy and healthy life expectancy. Results: (1) Transition probabilities in health-disability, health-death, and disability-death all showed an upward trend with age(P<0.05), where the elderly who experienced starvation in childhood were higher than those without such an experience(P<0.05). However, the probability of disability-health recovery showed a downward trend with age(P<0.05), whereas the elderly who experienced starvation in childhood were lower than those without starvation(P<0.05).(2) For the elderly who experienced starvation in childhood, the health indicators of the average life expectancy, healthy life expectancy, and healthy life expectancy proportion accounted for the remaining life were lower than those of the elderly without childhood starvation (P<0.05).Conclusions: The negative impact of childhood starvation on health through the life course till old age, has a persistent negative cumulative effect on the quantity and quality of life for the elderly. Therefore, it is important to pay attention to the nutritional status of children in poor families from the perspective of social policy-making.


2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Huiling Dong ◽  
Bingyi Wu ◽  
Qunhong Wu

Abstract Background Child malnutrition is not only common in developing countries, but also an important issue faced by developed countries. This study aimed to explore the influence and degree of childhood starvation on the health of the elderly, which providing a reference for formulating health-related policies under the concept of full-life cycle health. Methods Based on Chinese Longitudinal Healthy Longevity Survey (CLHLS) in 2008, 2011 and 2014, this paper took a total of 13,185 elderly people aged 65–99 years as the target population. By IMaCH software, with gender and income level as the control variables, and the average life expectancy and healthy life expectancy of the elderly was measured. The\({x}^{2}\)test was used to explore the differences in socio-economic status of elderly people with or without starvation in childhood. The paired t test was used to analyze the difference both average life expectancy and healthy life expectancy. Results (1) The results showed that there was a statistically significant difference in age, gender, residency, education level, and income level between the groups with or without starvation (P < 0.05).(2)Transition probabilities in health-disability, health-death, and disability-death all showed an upward trend with age(P < 0.05), where the elderly who experienced starvation in childhood were higher than those without such an experience(P < 0.05). However, the probability of disability-health recovery showed a downward trend with age(P < 0.05), whereas the elderly who experienced starvation in childhood were lower than those without starvation(P < 0.05). (3) For the elderly who experienced starvation in childhood, the health indicators of the average life expectancy, healthy life expectancy, and healthy life expectancy proportion accounted for the remaining life were lower than those of the elderly without childhood starvation (P < 0.05). Conclusions The average life expectancy and healthy life expectancy of the elderly with childhood starvation both are lower than those without childhood starvation. It shows that the negative impact of childhood starvation on health through the life course till old age, has a persistent negative cumulative effect on the quantity and quality of life. Therefore, it is important to pay attention to the nutritional status of children in poor families from the perspective of social policy-making.


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