Regional inequities in health expectancy in Belgium

doi:10.1016/S0277-9536(96)00080-9

Social Science & Medicine

Volume 43, Issue 11, December 1996, Pages 1673-1678

https://doi.org/10.1016/S0277-9536(96)00080-9 Get rights and content

Abstract

Mortality differs substantially between the Flemish and Walloon regions in Belgium. The question remains as to whether the health status of both populations varies in a similar way. The difference in healthy life expectancy, an indicator of population health, between the Flemish and Walloon regions was therefore assessed. In 1989–1990 a cross-sectional survey in the general population was performed in which 2640 persons were selected by a multistage random process. Perceived health status was determined through a validated question: “On the whole, how would you describe your health for the moment? Would you say it is very good/good/fair/rather bad/bad?” The prevalence of “being in good health (very good to fair)” was combined with mortality data (Sullivan method) to estimate the healthy life expectancy (HLE), and the following results were found. Among males, life expectancy (LE) and HLE at age 15 was 58.9 years and 56.5 years in the Flemish region, compared with 56.6 and 50.2 years in the Walloon region. At age 65, LE and HLE in the Flemish region was 14.3 and 13.3 years, and only 13.2 and 9.2 years in the Wallon region. Women at age 15 had an LE and HLE in the Flemish region of 65.2 years and 61.3 years, compared to 63.9 and 58.1 years in the Walloon region. At age 65, both the LE and the HLE in the Flemish region were higher, with LE at 18.5 versus 17.7 years, and HLE at 16.0 versus 14.3 years. Similar results were obtained when the criteria of “being in good health” were restricted to those indicating their health to be very good or good. In conclusion, the data indicate that the population in the Walloon region not only has a shorter life but apparently also has a shorter healthy life. Research is needed to explain what proportion of these differences can be attributed to differences in the prevalence of diseases, cultural differences and socio-economic differences.

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Regional inequities in health expectancy in Belgium

Abstract

Social Science & Medicine

Social Science & Medicine

Social Sci. Med.

Life Tables 1991–1993

Group Regional differences in dietary habits, coronary risk factors and mortality rates in Belgium: an interuniversity study

Int. Journal of Epidemiology

Healthy life expectancy: evaluation of global indicator of change in population health

BMJ

Health expectancy indicators: a review of the work of REVES to date

Medical Sociology

Old equal sick: an ontogenetic fallacy

Perceived health and mortality: a nine-year follow-up of the human population laboratory cohort

Am. J. Epidemiol.

Self-rated health: a predictor of mortality among the elderly

Am. J. Publ. Hlth

Self-evaluated health and mortality among the elderly in New Haven, Connecticut, and Iowa and Washington counties, Iowa, 1982–1986

Am. J. Epidemiol.

Disability free life among the elderly in the United States: sociodemographic correlates of functional health

J. Aging Hlth