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. 2024 Feb 22;24(1):576.
doi: 10.1186/s12889-024-18049-0.

Living longer but in poor health: healthcare system responses to ageing populations in industrialised countries based on the Findings from the Global Burden of Disease Study 2019

Minjae Choi  1   2 , Joshua Kirabo Sempungu  2   3 , Eun Hae Lee  2   3 , Yo Han Lee  4
Affiliations

Living longer but in poor health: healthcare system responses to ageing populations in industrialised countries based on the Findings from the Global Burden of Disease Study 2019

Minjae Choi et al. BMC Public Health. .

Abstract

Objectives: This study aimed to examine changes in life expectancy (LE), health-adjusted life expectancy (HALE), unhealthy years of life, and disease burden of older people in industrialised countries and associations with health systems.

Methods: We used estimates of LE and HALE, unhealthy years of life, years of life loss (YLL), years lived with disability (YLD) for individuals aged 70 years and over in 33 industrialised countries from 1990 to 2019 from the Global Burden of Disease Study 2019. A linear regression analysis was conducted to examine the association of health outcomes with the Healthcare Access and Quality (HAQ) index.

Results: LE and HALE increased with improved HAQ index from 1990 to 2019. However, the number of unhealthy years of life increased. An increased HAQ index was associated with decreases in YLL. However, changes in YLD were relatively small and were not correlated with HAQ index.

Conclusions: The healthcare system needs to more address the increased morbidity burden among older people. It should be designed to handle to healthcare needs of the ageing population.

Keywords: Ageing population; Health-adjusted life expectancy; Healthcare burden; Healthcare system; Life expectancy.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare no competing interests.

Figures

Fig. 1
Fig. 1
Life expectancy (LE), health-adjusted life expectancy (HALE), and unhealthy year (LE-HALE) at 70–74 years in 33 industrialized countries in 1990 and 2019
Fig. 2
Fig. 2
Association between life expectancy (LE), health-adjusted life expectancy (HALE), unhealth years (LE-HALE) at 70–74 years and HAQ Index from 1990 to 2019
Fig. 3
Fig. 3
Association between YLD and YLL rates for those aged over 70 and HAQ Index from 1990 to 2019
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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