'Healthspan' increasing even for people with common chronic conditions
Disability-free years mostly increased for men and women, but decreased
for people with cognitive impairment

Date:
March 15, 2022
Source:
PLOS
Summary:
The number of healthy years a person lives is, on average,
increasing even for people with common chronic conditions, according
to a new study.



FULL STORY ==========================================================================
The number of healthy years a person lives is, on average, increasing
even for people with common chronic conditions, according to a new study publishing March 15th in PLOS Medicineby Holly Bennett of Newcastle
University, UK, and colleagues.


========================================================================== There have been advances in healthcare over recent decades that mean many people with chronic health conditions are living longer. In the new study, researchers wanted to determine whether this extension to life involves
an increase in years with or without disability. The team analyzed data
from two large population-based studies of people aged 65 or over in
England. The studies, the Cognitive Function and Aging Studies (CFAS I
and II) involved baseline interviews with 7,635 people in 1991-1993 and
with 7,762 people in 2008-2011, with two years of follow-up in each case.

For both healthy people and those with health conditions, the average
years of disability-free life expectancy (DFLE) increased from 1991
to 2011. Overall, men gained 4.6 years in life expectancy (95% CI:
3.7 -- 5.5 years, p<0.001)) and 3.7 years in DFLE (95% CI: 2.7 -- 4.8, p<0.001)). Men with conditions including arthritis, coronary heart
disease, stroke and diabetes gained more years in DFLE than years with disability. The greatest improvements in DFLE in men were seen for those
with respiratory difficulties and those living post- stroke.

Between 1991 and 2011, women experienced an increase in life expectancy
at age 65 years of 2.1 years (95% CI: 1.1- 3.0 years, p<0.001), and an
increase in DFLE of 2.0 years (95% CI: 1.0 -- 2.9 years, p<0.001). Similar
to men, most improvement in life expectancy for women with long-term
conditions was in disability-free years. However, women with cognitive impairment experienced an increase in life expectancy with disability
(1.6 years, 95% CI: 0.1 -- 3.1, p=0.04) without any improvement in
DFLE. Men with cognitive impairment experienced only a small increase in
DFLE (1.4 years, 95% CI: -0.7 -- 3.4, p=0.18) with an increase in life expectancy with disability that was comparable in magnitude (1.4 years,
95%CI: 0.2-2.5, p=0.02). Therefore, at age 65, the percentage of remaining years of life which were spent disability-free decreased for men with
cognitive impairment (difference CFAS II -- CFAS I: - 3.6%, 95% confidence interval (CI): -8.2 -- 1.0, p=0.12) and women with cognitive impairment (difference CFAS II -- CFAS I: -3.9%, 95% CI: -7.6 -- 0.0, p=0.04).

"While these findings are mostly positive, we found an increase in the percentage of remaining years spent with disability for men and women
with cognitive impairment. Given cognitive impairment was also the
only long-term condition where prevalence decreased this is a cause for
concern and requires further investigation," the authors say.


========================================================================== Story Source: Materials provided by PLOS. Note: Content may be edited
for style and length.


========================================================================== Journal Reference:
1. Holly Q. Bennett, Andrew Kingston, Ilianna Lourida, Louise Robinson,
Lynne Corner, Carol Brayne, Fiona E. Matthews, Carol Jagger. A
comparison over 2 decades of disability-free life expectancy at age
65 years for those with long-term conditions in England: Analysis
of the 2 longitudinal Cognitive Function and Ageing Studies. PLOS
Medicine, 2022; 19 (3): e1003936 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pmed.1003936 ==========================================================================

Link to news story: https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2022/03/220315142004.htm

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