Special issue with further contributions from @timriffe1.bsky.social, Martin Spielauer and @sonja-spitzer.bsky.social.

Results are based on the ERC Consolidator Grant project “Levels and trends of health expectancy: understanding its measurement and estimation sensitivity” (LETHE), (grant agreement No 725187).
🔗 delag.eu/Projects/

Health Expectancy estimates can vary substantially depending on the data, health questions, age ranges and calculation techniques used. The authors provide guidance for interpreting Health Expectancy indicators more cautiously and meaningfully.

The authors uncover how meaningful is “health expectancy” as a measure of population health. Indicators like Healthy Life Years or Health-Adjusted Life Expectancy are widely used to summarize how long people live in good health – but these numbers depend heavily on how we measure them.

The application shows that US lifespan inequity declined faster than in other countries until the 1970s, but stagnated afterwards, resulting in the highest levels by the 2010s. The COVID-19 pandemic exacerbated lifespan inequity in the US more than in other countries.
@socialindicators.bsky.social

As cited in Scientific American: Miguel Sanchez-Romero and colleagues show that the proportion who have ever been over 65 that are alive today ranges between 5.5 and 9.5%.
🔗 Read now: www.demographic-research.org/articles/vol...