Healthy Life Expectancy

Page last updated: 26-JUL-2010

Healthy Life Expectancy

Statistical Publication Notice

24 November 2009

Healthy Life Expectancy.

INTRODUCTION

Although both life expectancy (LE) and healthy life expectancy (HLE) at birth have been increasing in Scotland in recent years, they are lower than in the UK as a whole. Indeed, Scotland has one of the lowest levels of LE in Western Europe. The Scottish Government has included targets to increase HLE in Scotland Performs.
 
This publication is an update of the Healthy life expectancy topic on the ScotPHO website. Previously unpublished LE and HLE data are included for Scotland (2008) and its deprivation quintiles (2007-08), and the key findings are discussed below. In addition, the pages on intermediate geographies, UK comparisons, international comparisons and the policy context have been updated with previously published data from other sources.

KEY POINTS

  • Both LE and HLE at birth have improved in Scotland over recent years. The most recent single year estimates are for the average boy born in 2008 to live to 75.3 years, 68.1 of these in ?good? health. The average girl born in 2008 would be expected to live to 80.0 years, 70.8 of them in ?good? health.
  • The gap between LE and HLE at birth (the period expected to be spent in ?not good? health) has also tended to increase in Scotland over recent years, particularly for males.
  • For deprivation quintiles within Scotland, the most recent 2-year period (2007-08) data confirm that for each sex, the more deprived the quintile the shorter the LE at birth, the shorter the HLE at birth and the longer the period expected to be spent in ?not good? health.

INTERPRETATION

LE is calculated from population estimates and death registration data, using a life table. HLE is calculated by combining LE and a measure of ?good? health (self-assessed general health from the Census or a household survey). The data discussed here ? single year LE and HLE figures for Scotland, and 2-year figures for deprivation quintiles ? are based on self-assessed health from the Scottish Household Survey and are presented in order to assess time trends. However, it should be noted that these data are less statistically robust than the 5-year 1999-2003 LE and HLE figures also presented on the website which are based on 5 years of data on deaths and populations, and self-assessed health from the 2001 Scotland Census (with much greater numbers of respondents than the Scottish Household Survey).
 
The results should be interpreted as providing a general indication of LE and HLE estimates over time, rather than precise and robust figures. The results include 95% confidence intervals to give some indication of the stability of the estimates in terms of the likely range of random year-to-year statistical variability in the source data.  However, it should be emphasised that it is not possible to quantify the effects of any unusual circumstances which affect the figures for a particular locality or year.
 
Please note that following the release by the Scottish Government of revised weightings for the Scottish Household Survey data in autumn 2009, HLE has been recalculated for all years for both Scotland and the deprivation quintiles. This has had only a minor effect, altering the previously published HLE at birth estimates by less than 0.1 years (Scotland) and less than 0.4 years (deprivation quintiles).
 
The technical paper on the website provides further information on methodology.

DETAILED FINDINGS

Scotland

  • Estimates of LE at birth in Scotland based on single years of data have increased over recent years. (Males: from 68.7 years in 1980 to 75.3 years in 2008; an increase of 6.6 years over the 29-year period. Females: from 75.1 to 80.0 years; an increase of 4.9 years).
  • Single year estimates of HLE at birth in Scotland are quite variable, but like LE demonstrate an overall upward trend. (Males: from 62.6 years in 1980 to 68.1 years in 2008; an increase of 5.5 years over the 29-year period. Females: from 65.9 to 70.8 years; an increase of 4.8 years.)
  • The gap between LE and HLE at birth (the period expected to be spent in ?not good? health) has also tended to increase over time, particularly for males. The average boy born in 2008 would be expected to spend 7.3 years during their lifetime in ?not good? health; the average girl, 9.2 years.

Deprivation quintiles

  • As expected, LE at birth decreased steadily from the least to the most deprived quintile. In 2007-08, male LE for the least deprived quintile (80.2 years) was 11.4 years longer than for the most deprived quintile (68.8 years). For females, LE for the least deprived quintile (83.5 years) was 7.3 years longer than for the most deprived quintile (76.3 years).
  • There was a similar, but more marked, pattern for HLE at birth. In 2007-08, male HLE for the least deprived quintile (74.6 years) was 15.8 years longer than for the most deprived quintile (58.8 years). Female HLE for the least deprived quintile (77.3 years) was 15.2 years longer than for the most deprived quintile (62.1 years).
  • There also tended to be a clear gradient in the period expected to be spent in ?not good? health. In 2007-08, for males this ranged from 5.6 years in the least deprived quintile, to 10.1 years in the most deprived quintile. The figures for females were 6.2 and 14.2 years respectively.
  • As in Scotland overall, each deprivation quintile tended to show an increase between 1999-2000 and 2007-08 in both LE and HLE at birth, for each sex.
  • Between 1999-2000 and 2007-08, for each sex, LE at birth appears to have diverged slightly between the least and most deprived quintiles, indicating a possible increase in health inequality.  The estimates for HLE at birth are less robust and there is no clear indication of a divergence (or convergence) of trends over time.

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MAIN CONTACTS:

Dr Alison Burlison
Senior Information Analyst
0131 275 6216
alison.burlison@nhs.net

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GLOSSARY:

Life expectancy (LE) is an estimate of how many years the average person might be expected to live.

Healthy life expectancy (HLE) is an estimate of how many years they might live in ?good? health.

Deprivation quintiles are fifths of the Scottish population, grouped by the deprivation level of their area of residence as assessed by the 2006 version of the Scottish Government?s Scottish Index of Multiple Deprivation.

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PRE-RELEASE ACCESS:

Under terms of the "Pre-Release Access to Official Statistics (Scotland) Order 2008", ISD are obliged to publish information on those receiving Pre-Release Access ("Pre-Release Access" refers to statistics in their final form prior to publication). The standard maximum Pre-Release Access is five working days. Shown below are details of those receiving standard Pre-Release Access and, separately, those receiving extended Pre-Release Access.
 
Standard (five day) Pre-Release Access:
Scottish Government Health Department (Analytical Services Division)
NHS Board Chief Executives
NHS Board Communication leads
General Register Office for Scotland (Demography Branch)
Office for National Statistics (Mortality Analysis Team; Centre for Health Analysis and Life Events Office for National Statistics)
 
Extended Pre-Release Access:
Scottish Government Health Department (Analytical Services Division)
This extended Pre-Release Access is given to a small number of named individuals in the Scottish Government Health Department (Analytical Services Division). This Pre-Release Access is for the sole purpose of enabling that department to gain an understanding of the statistics prior to briefing others in Scottish Government (during the period of standard Pre-Release Access).
 
 
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HISTORY OF THIS PUBLICATION:

Last Published: December 2008
Next Due: 2010
Data Available Since: Website topic first published in 2008.
Data include time trends, back to 1980 in some cases.

 


Main contact: Email Alison Burlison