BACKGROUND Several countries have reported an increase in life expectancy at advanced ages. This paper analyses recent changes in life expectancy at age 60 and 85 in The Netherlands, a low mortality country with reliable mortality data. METHODS We used data on the population and the number of deaths by age, sex and underlying cause of death for 1970-1994. Life expectancy at age 60 and 85 was ...

AIM To examine the differences in life expectancy and mortality between the populations on Croatian islands and the mainland, and among the islands themselves. METHOD Data on population size and mortality collected in Croatia in 2001 were analyzed by life table and standardized mortality rates. RESULTS Life expectancy at birth (95% confidence interval) of the population on Croatian islands ...

BACKGROUND Estimates of life expectancy assist physicians and patients in medical decision-making. The time-delayed benefits for many medical treatments make an older adult's life expectancy estimate particularly important for physicians. The purpose of this study is to assess older adults' beliefs about physician-estimated life expectancy. METHODS We performed a mixed qualitative-quantitativ...

OBJECTIVES To estimate life expectancy for people with HIV undergoing treatment compared with life expectancy in the general population and to assess the impact on life expectancy of late treatment, defined as CD4 count <200 cells/mm(3) at start of antiretroviral therapy. DESIGN Cohort study. SETTING Outpatient HIV clinics throughout the United Kingdom. Population Adult patients from the UK...

CONTEXT Patients with chronic heart failure have impaired long-term survival, but their own expectations regarding prognosis have not been well studied. OBJECTIVES To quantify expectations for survival in patients with heart failure, to compare patient expectations to model predictions, and to identify factors associated with discrepancies between patient-predicted and model-predicted prognos...

BACKGROUND Life expectancy is a statistical measure of the average time an organism is expected to live. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the impact of injury-related mortality on life expectancy in Zhejiang Province. METHODS Our study used standard life tables to calculate life expectancy and cause-removed life expectancy based on mortality data from the Zhejiang Chronic Disease Sur...

BACKGROUND Improvements in life expectancy have fuelled debates about the statutory retirement age in many European countries. This article contributes to this debate by investigating how changes in disability may influence both employment outcomes and disability-free life expectancy. METHODS We used data from the European Community Household Panel to estimate the impact of disability inciden...

The increase in life expectancy that would result from the elimination of certain diseases and the resulting change in hospital utilization vary, depending on the disease. In some cases, life expectancy would rise and total days spent in hospital would decline, while in others, the gain in life expectancy would be accompanied by an increase in hospital days. For instance, if mental health disor...

Period life expectancy is calculated from age-specific death rates using life table methods that are among the oldest and most fundamental tools of demography. These methods are rarely questioned, much less criticized. Yet changing age patterns of adult mortality in contemporary countries with high life expectancy provide a basis for questioning the conventional use of age-specific death rates ...