Dependency ratios in healthy ageing

Abstract

Although people are living longer, there is no discernible pattern about the quality of life in an increasing lifespan. This restricts our capacity to predict and prepare for the consequences of population ageing. Accordingly, we propose a population ageing indicator that combines demographic and disability prevalence data through a characteristics approach and explore different scenarios to account for uncertainty in life quality projections. Our results, available for 186 countries, show that countries that rank older under conventional chronological ageing measures may rank younger under our qualitative measure. Additionally, we find substantial differences in our projections depending on different health assumptions, demonstrating the risk of using ageing indicators that make implicit assumptions about health characteristics.

A structural equation model to explore sociodemographic, macroeconomic, and health factors affecting life expectancy in Oman

“…SD consists of 5 observable variables: the primary and secondary school enrollment as the percentage of primary/secondary school enrollment annually [ 31 , 32 ], IMR as the rate of infant mortality per 1000 live births annually [ 33 ], fertility rate as the total birth per woman annually [ 34 ], and female adult mortality rate as the ratio of adult mortality of female population annually [ 35 ]. In the ME, observable variables include the GDP per capita as the gross domestic product per number of population in current US$ annually [ 11 - 15 ], the dependency ratio as the percentage of the working-age population annually [ 36 ], and capital investment in billion US$ annually [ 37 ]. For the HSR, observable variables include CO2 emissions as the carbon dioxide emitted in metric tons per capita annually [ 24 ], mental and substance use disorders as the percentage of mental disorders and substance use within a share of total disease burden annually [ 38 ], and the prevalence of obesity for females or males as the percentage of adult female/male population with obesity in the given year [ 39 ] ( Figure 1 ).…”

The expression of ‘policy’ in palliative care: A critical review

“…Such elements are evidentbroadly, population growth is slowing markedly [63] and the incidence of dementia (particularly in Europe and the US) [66], ischemic heart disease [67], stroke [68] and some cancers in some particular 'Global North' countries [69] is declining. The 'aging population structure' pre-supposition can also be tempered by the recognition of further narrative exclusions, perspectives that variously assert that: 'chronological' age does not necessarily correlate with 'biological' age [70]; that other metrics offer a more valid assessment of 'healthy aging' [71]; that healthy life expectancy is generally rising [72]; and that ratio indicators of population old age dependency are invalid measures of the burden of an ageing population [73].…”

Assessment of Health Seeking Behaviour of the Elderly in a Rural Community of Sokoto State, Nigeria

“…Adults and the elderly with chronic conditions may receive care from multiple providers across multiple settings, yet this care is more often than not poorly structured [8]. For all countries, the old age dependency ratio has been showing a steady rise [9]. The rise in the number of elderly people increases the burden of providing social services, including health care services for these populations [10].…”