Primary Submission Category: Methodological approaches to studying public health
Understanding the Race and Gender Differences in Healthy Life Expectancy in Washington State
Authors: Leah Wainman, Fan Xiong,
Presenting Author: Leah Wainman*
Understanding the Race and Gender Differences in Healthy Life Expectancy in Washington State
Background: The oldest and simplest measure of population health is the rate of mortality. Healthy life expectancy is a calculated measure that uses self-reported health and mortality data to assess the average number of years a person can expect to live in good health.
Methods: Healthy life expectancy (HLE) was calculated using abridged Sullivan life tables for all respondents and for males and females separately, by 5-year age bands. Data sources included three datasets: 2022 American Community Survey 5-year summary reports, 2022 CDC Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System (BRFSS) survey, and 2022 Mortality rates – stratified by five-year age bands, geographic region, occupation, race & ethnicity. Regression methods were used to understand the drivers of health by age, race, ethnicity, and gender.
Results: In 2022 the healthy life expectancy at birth in Washington was 68.9 (68.42, 69.55), while the overall life expectancy at birth in Washington was 78.6 (78.8, 79.04) years. Disaggregating the data by race, ethnicity, and gender revealed disparities among these subgroups. HLE was associated with multiple health outcomes.
Key Points: HLE could be used as a key outcome measure in assessing the extent to which certain groups experience health differently compared across and within a community. Monitoring HLE at the population level experience disparities in health outcomes can help public health and healthcare professionals assess the extent to which health is improving and disparities are narrowing for priority populations.