The contribution of social participation to differences in life expectancy and healthy years among the older population: A comparison between Chile, Costa Rica and Spain

Abstract

We study the health trajectories of the population aged over 60, comparing between one European and two Latin American countries (Spain, Chile and Costa Rica) which have similar longevity patterns. Our focus is on functional limitation and mortality risks, considering differences by gender, education and social participation. Data come from national panel surveys (EPS, CRELES, SHARE). Multistate modelling is used to estimate transition probabilities between two health states: healthy to unhealthy, unhealthy to healthy as well as the transition to death from healthy or unhealthy states, to estimate the duration of stay in a specific state (computing healthy and unhealthy life expectancies) and the effect of the selected covariates. Results show that older Costa Ricans have the smallest gender gap in life expectancy but women have a lower healthy life expectancy compared to those in Chile and Spain. Participation in social activities leads to higher healthy life expectancy among the elderly in Costa Rica and Spain, whilst there were no relevant educational differences observed in longevity in the analysed countries. To conclude: despite the different patterns observed in health transitions and survival across the three countries, social participation is associated with greater health and longevity among people of old age, with little effect coming from educational attainment. Public policies should therefore be aimed at reducing unhealthy life years and dependency at advanced ages by promoting more engagement in social activities, especially among vulnerable groups who are more likely to experience impairment from a younger age.

Emotional state, life satisfaction and worries regarding COVID-19 in Spanish and Chilean adolescents during Spring 2020

“…Kola et al ( 24 ) state that the pandemic’s impact on mental health is greater in countries with greater poverty and worse socioeconomic status. In general, a worse psychological state is hypothesized in Chile since they started from a more unfavorable socioeconomic situation than Spain ( 25 ). Concretely, this study aims to examine the emotional state, life satisfaction and COVID-19 worries regarding Chilean and Spanish adolescents.…”

Functional Limitations among European Older Adults: Cross-Country Differences in Health Improvements and Social Environment Influence

“…Health status can be measured by a quite range of disability measures as health conditions and diseases (chronic condition and long term illness), self-perceived health (self-report about individuals perception about their health status: very good, good, fear, bad, very bad), functional limitation (which captures functioning on six life domains as cognition, mobility, selfcare, getting along, life activities and participation (9,14)). Among them, World Health Organization (WHO) recommends functional based approach to assess health status across population following the disability process as it is closely related to disability and dependence.…”

Spatial-Temporal Distribution and Key Drivers of Inequalities in the Gap Between Health-Adjusted Life Expectancy and Life Expectancy: Evidence from a Megacity in China, 2010-2019.

“…Effects of population structure on changes in GAP Our results showed a positive correlation between the ratio of male to female and GAP, which may be explained by the fact that although females' LE increased faster than males and the trend has remained at higher levels 42 , the increase in HALE is not parallel. It is well known that females generally live longer than males, but female's longer lives are not necessarily healthy lives [43][44][45] . This phenomenon is called the male-female health-survival paradox 46 .…”