This topic covers statistical outputs that are mainly used to measure and monitor health expectancy, taking account of the number of years lived in good health or free from disability at birth and at age 65 by sex in the UK and constituent countries. These figures are also produced decennially for local authorities and electoral wards.
Publications
The Bulletin provides summary information as well as some trend data from previous years. It includes information on - smoking, household composition, debt, internet access, health, sport and leisure, environmental issues, mobile phones and job applications.
Provides data on the numbers of people on disability registers maintained by local authority social services departments.
New registrations and people currently registered as blind or partially sighted, by age, gender and disabilities.
Overview
These estimates are used by the Department of Health and the Department for Work and Pensions to monitor the Public Service Agreement (PSA) covering fairness and opportunity for all.
Health expectancy estimates for a given year are constructed through combining three-year pooled population estimates, death registrations, General Household Survey and Continuous Household Survey data on general health and limiting long-standing illness, and general health and limiting long-term illness data for communal establishment populations at the 2001 Census.
Healthy Life Expectancy at a given age is the average number of years that a person can expect to live in good or fairly good health, based on people’s own assessment of their general health. Disability-free Life Expectancy is the average number of years that a person can expect to live free from a limiting long-standing illness, or disability.
All of the information in this section relates to information collected and published by the Office for National Statistics, the General Register Office Scotland and the Northern Ireland Statistics and Research Agency. These outputs are designated as National Statistics, apart from ward level outputs.
Technical Data
This dataset contains Healthy Life Expectancy (HLE) and Disability-free Life Expectancy (DFLE) results at birth and age 65 for the UK and constituent countries between 2001 and 2004, calculated by the Office for National Statistics.
Healthy Life Expectancy
The HLE estimates were calculated by combining: age and sex specific mortality rates (life tables) pooled over three years and centred on the estimate year, with age and sex specific rates of good or not good general health from the General Household Survey and the Continuous Household Survey pooled over three years and centred on the estimate year, and persons resident in communal establishments at the time of the 2001 Census.
HLE at age x (usually birth or 65) for the year 2001 is defined as the average number of years a person aged x would live in good or fairly good health if he or she experienced the particular country’s age-specific mortality and health rates for 2000-02 throughout his or her life. The figure reflects current mortality and morbidity experiences of those living in the country in 2001. It does not indicate how long people living in the country (newly born or aged 65) can expect to live in good or fairly good health in the future as both death and health rates are likely to change in the future, and some of those living in the country are likely to move and live elsewhere at least for some part of their lives.
HLE is also not a guide to the remaining years of healthy life at any given age as it changes with age. For example, if female HLE at birth was 70 years for a particular country, HLE of women aged 65 years in that country would exceed five years. This reflects the fact that HLE at age x depends only on the mortality and general health rates beyond that age, whereas healthy life at birth is based on mortality and morbidity rates at all ages.
Disability-free Life Expectancy
The DFLE estimates were calculated by combining: age and sex specific mortality rates (life tables) pooled over three years and centred on the estimate year, with age and sex specific rates of limiting long-standing illness or disability from the General Household Survey and Continuous Household Survey pooled over three years and centred on the estimate year and limiting long-term illness or disability of persons resident in communal establishments as of the 2001 Census.
DFLE at age x (usually birth or 65) for the year 2001 is defined as the average number of years a person aged x would live without a limiting long-standing illness or disability if he or she experienced the particular country’s age-specific mortality and illness or disability rates for 2000-02 throughout his or her life.
The figure reflects current mortality and morbidity experiences of those living in the country in 2001. It does not indicate how long people living in the country (newly born or aged 65) can expect to live in future free of limiting illness or disability as both death and illness and/or disability rates are likely to change in the future, and some of those living in the country are likely to move and live elsewhere at least for some part of their lives.
DFLE is also not a guide to the remaining years of life free of limiting illness or disability at any given age as it also changes with age in the same way described above for HLE.
Like most statistics, health expectancy estimates are subject to margins of error depending upon the population size of countries and the magnitude of the estimates. The 95 per cent confidence intervals, which show the relative precision of the estimates, are also shown alongside the estimates. These confidence intervals allow comparisons between countries to be made and establish whether differences between countries are statistically significant or not. Countries with non-overlapping confidence intervals are considered to have significantly different estimates.
Glossary
-
Aggregation
Pooled years of survey data.
-
Cohort Health Expectancy
The number of years an individual can expect to live beyond a given age in good/fairly good health or free from a limiting illness or disability which allow for known or projected changes in mortality and prevalence of good or fairly good health or limiting illness or disability in future years. For example, cohort Healthy Life Expectancy at age 65 in 2000 would be worked out using the mortality and good or fairly good prevalence rates for age 65 in 2000, for age 66 in 2001 and so on. This requires information on the transition rate into an alternative health state usually available only from longitudinal data sources.
-
Confidence interval
A confidence interval gives an estimated range of values which is likely to include an unknown population parameter such as an estimate of health expectancy.
-
Disability-free Life Years
The number of years lived free of a limiting illness or disability.
-
General Health Status
Subjective well-being reported by the individual.
-
Healthy Life Years
The number of years lived in good or fairly good health.
-
Limiting long-term illness status
Subjective functional status being reported by the individual.
-
Period Health Expectancy
The number of years an individual can expect to live beyond a given age in good or fairly good health or free from a limiting illness or disability if the individual experienced the mortality and prevalence of good or fairly good health or limiting illness or disability pertaining to a specific period for the remainder of his or her life.
-
Precision
Precision is defined as the proximity of an estimator to the true value of a parameter.
-
Prevalence
The proportion of the survey population reporting a given state.
Contact Details
For statistical enquiries about this topic, please contact:
Chris White
Email: chris.white@ons.gsi.gov.uk
Telephone: +44 (0) 1633 455865
Centre for Health Analysis and Reporting Room 1.276 Office for National Statistics Government Buildings Cardiff Road Newport, NP10 8XG
