Women aged 50 can expect 20 years of health
Monday November 17 2008
Irish women aged 50 can expect to enjoy an average of 20 more years of good health -- a year more than men.
These years of relative good health are separate to a person's life expectancy.
An Irish woman reaching the half century can now look forward to living to 83 -- 13 years after she suffers a deterioration in health.
The life expectancy of an Irish man is 79 years, leaving him with just a decade to live after he has encountered an illness affecting his activity.
This picture has emerged in a study on variations in healthy-life years among the over-50s in the EU.
The findings -- published in the 'Lancet' journal today -- found that substantial inequalities exist throughout the EU and the higher a country's gross domestic product and spending on elderly care, the more good years ahead for the nation's 50-year-olds.
It concluded that the EU target of having half of older workers aged 50-64 years employed by 2010 is unlikely to be achieved in some countries, unless there are substantial health improvements.
According to the study, carried out by Professor Carol Jagger of the University of Leicester, in general, researchers found that the 15 "established" EU countries had higher life expectancies than newer entrants.
For men, the highest life expectancies were 80.4 years (Italy) and 80.3 years (Sweden); while the lowest were 71.3 years (Latvia) and 71.7 years (Lithuania).
The years of good health they could expect at 50 were highest for men in Denmark (23.6 years) and Malta (21.7), one of the exceptions among the newer members.
They were lowest in Estonia (9.0 years) and Hungary (10.8 years).
Highest
For women, life expectancy was highest in France (85.4 years), Italy (85.3 years) and Spain (85.0 years); while the lowest were in Latvia (79.3 years) and Hungary (79.4 years).
The years of good health after 50 years were highest in Denmark (24.1 years) and Malta (22.5 years), and lowest in Estonia (10.4 years) and Hungary (11.4 years).
The authors suggested a 1pc increase in spending on elderly care would give 50-year-olds in the established EU countries another year of good health; but it would add 13 years to their peers in the newer members.
The study emphasised the value of examining a person's health status over-50, and not just their life expectancy, when making policy decisions about the older population.
- Eilish O'Regan Health Correspondent
