Socio-economic inequalities in life expectancy of older adults with and without multimorbidity: a record linkage study of 1.1 million people in England.

ABSTRACT:

Background

Age of onset of multimorbidity and its prevalence are well documented. However, its contribution to inequalities in life expectancy has yet to be quantified.

Methods

A cohort of 1.1 million English people aged 45 and older were followed up from 2001 to 2010. Multimorbidity was defined as having 2 or more of 30 major chronic diseases. Multi-state models were used to estimate years spent healthy and with multimorbidity, stratified by sex, smoking status and quintiles of small-area deprivation.

Results

Unequal rates of multimorbidity onset and subsequent survival contributed to higher life expectancy at age 65 for the least (Q1) compared with most (Q5) deprived: there was a 2-year gap in healthy life expectancy for men [Q1: 7.7 years (95% confidence interval:

SUBMITTER: Chan MS 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC6693817 | biostudies-literature | 2019 Aug

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature