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A Systematic Literature Review of Studies Analyzing Inequalities in Health Expectancy among the Older Population

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  • Benedetta Pongiglione
  • Bianca L De Stavola
  • George B Ploubidis

Abstract

Aim: To collect, organize and appraise evidence of socioeconomic and demographic inequalities in health and mortality among the older population using a summary measure of population health: Health Expectancy. Methods: A systematic literature review was conducted. Literature published in English before November 2014 was searched via two possible sources: three electronic databases (Web of Science, Medline and Embase), and references in selected articles. The search was developed combining terms referring to outcome, exposure and participants, consisting in health expectancy, socioeconomic and demographic groups, and older population, respectively. Results: Of 256 references identified, 90 met the inclusion criteria. Six references were added after searching reference lists of included articles. Thirty-three studies were focused only on gender-based inequalities; the remaining sixty-three considered gender along with other exposures. Findings were organized according to two leading perspectives: the type of inequalities considered and the health indicators chosen to measure health expectancy. Evidence of gender-based differentials and a socioeconomic gradient were found in all studies. A remarkable heterogeneity in the choice of health indicators used to compute health expectancy emerged as well as a non-uniform way of defining same health conditions. Conclusions: Health expectancy is a useful and convenient measure to monitor and assess the quality of ageing and compare different groups and populations. This review showed a general agreement of results obtained in different studies with regard to the existence of inequalities associated with several factors, such as gender, education, behaviors, and race. However, the lack of a standardized definition of health expectancy limits its comparability across studies. The need of conceiving health expectancy as a comparable and repeatable measure was highlighted as fundamental to make it an informative instrument for policy makers.

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  • Benedetta Pongiglione & Bianca L De Stavola & George B Ploubidis, 2015. "A Systematic Literature Review of Studies Analyzing Inequalities in Health Expectancy among the Older Population," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 10(6), pages 1-21, June.
    • Handle: RePEc:plo:pone00:0130747
    DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0130747
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    3. Md Shariful Islam & Md Ismail Tareque & Md Nazrul Islam Mondal & Ahbab Mohammad Fazle Rabbi & Hafiz T A Khan & Sharifa Begum, 2017. "Urban-rural differences in disability-free life expectancy in Bangladesh using the 2010 HIES data," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 12(7), pages 1-13, July.
    4. Emma Aguila & Mariana López-Ortega & Luis Miguel Gutiérrez Robledo, 2018. "Non-contributory pension programs and frailty of older adults: Evidence from Mexico," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 13(11), pages 1-19, November.
    5. Claudia Reiter & Sonja Spitzer, 2021. "Well-being in Europe: decompositions by country and gender for the population aged 50+," Vienna Yearbook of Population Research, Vienna Institute of Demography (VID) of the Austrian Academy of Sciences in Vienna, vol. 19(1), pages 383-415.
    6. Hui-Chuan Hsu & Jersey Liang & Dih-Ling Luh & Chen-Fen Chen & Ying-Wei Wang, 2019. "Social Determinants and Disparities in Active Aging Among Older Taiwanese," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 16(16), pages 1-18, August.
    7. Camila Perera & Fabián Cabrera & Juan Carlos Albizu-Campos & Henrik Brønnum-Hansen, 2019. "Health expectancies among non-white and white populations living in Havana, 2000–2004," European Journal of Ageing, Springer, vol. 16(1), pages 17-24, March.
    8. Anu Jain & Albert J van Hoek & Jemma L Walker & Rohini Mathur & Liam Smeeth & Sara L Thomas, 2017. "Identifying social factors amongst older individuals in linked electronic health records: An assessment in a population based study," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 12(11), pages 1-17, November.
    9. Erich Striessnig & Claudia Reiter & Anna Dimitrova, 2021. "Global improvements in Years of Good Life since 1950," Vienna Yearbook of Population Research, Vienna Institute of Demography (VID) of the Austrian Academy of Sciences in Vienna, vol. 19(1), pages 141-167.
    10. Jens Hoebel & Alexander Rommel & Sara Lena Schröder & Judith Fuchs & Enno Nowossadeck & Thomas Lampert, 2017. "Socioeconomic Inequalities in Health and Perceived Unmet Needs for Healthcare among the Elderly in Germany," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 14(10), pages 1-18, September.

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