Global healthspan-Lifespan gaps among 183 World Health Organization member states

Global healthspan-Lifespan gaps among 183 World Health Organization member states
JAMA Network Open; Armin Garmany, BS; Andre Terzic, MD, PhD; 12/24
Gains in life expectancy across global populations are recognized as a societal achievement, ... but increased lifespan, ...  does not necessarily mean a longer healthy life. An estimate of healthspan is the health-adjusted life expectancy whereby years of life are weighted by health status. Notably, gains in life expectancy have not been matched by an equivalent rise in health-adjusted life expectancy. The resulting healthspan-lifespan gap reflects the extent of lifespan burdened by disease. Against the backdrop of the greatest noncommunicable disease burden, the US recorded the largest healthspan-lifespan gap ... , with a gap 24% larger than projected from the country’s life expectancy. Specifically, in the US the mean healthspan-lifespan gap increased from 10.9 to 12.4 years over the past 2 decades ... , resulting in a 29% higher gap than the global mean. Women exhibited a 2.6-year higher healthspan-lifespan gap than men, increasing from 12.2 to 13.7 years or 32% beyond the global mean for women.