SynthesisBMJ open2021
Trends in health expectancies: a systematic review of international evidence.
Synthesis in BMJ open, 2021. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 22 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
22 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it.
- Immediate breast reconstruction uptake in older women with primary breast cancer: systematic review.The British journal of surgery · 2022Pooled it
- A demographic perspective on longevity and healthspan: Rethinking population ageing through a positive and prospective lens.Journal of internal medicine · 2026Article
- Association Between Physical Activity Levels and Life Functioning in Korean Older Adults: A Cross-Sectional Analysis of the 2024 Korea National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey.Healthcare (Basel, Switzerland) · 2026Article
- Prevalence and determinants of multimorbidity in older Chinese adults: a nationwide cross-sectional study using CLASS data.BMC geriatrics · 2026Article
- Getting better or worse? How trends in healthy life expectancy within working age are shaped by diverging trends among age groups.European journal of public health · 2026Article
- Two decades of end-of-life conditions of older adults: older and more protracted?SSM - population health · 2025Article
- Trends in educational inequality in healthy life expectancy in Denmark between 2010 and 2021: a population-based study.BMJ open · 2025Article
- Healthy life expectancy by county, race, and ethnicity in the USA, 2009-19: a systematic analysis of health disparities.Lancet regional health. Americas · 2025Article
- Changes in Disability, Severe Disability, and Dependence in Spain (1986-2020).International journal of public health · 2025Article
- Estimating the Sex Gap in Depression-Free Life Expectancy Among Widowed Americans Aged 50 and Older: An Application Using the Interpolated Markov Chain Approach.Journal of aging and health · 2025Article
- Outliving and outlasting: explaining sex inequities in healthy life expectancy through the lens of multimorbidity and within morbidities in older populations in India.Frontiers in public health · 2025Article
- Abdominal aortic calcification among gastroenterological and transplant surgery.Annals of gastroenterological surgery · 2024Review
- Cohort Differences in Physical Health and Disability in the United States and Europe.The journals of gerontology. Series B, Psychological sciences and social sciences · 2024Article
- Generational differences in physical health and disability in the United States and Europe.medRxiv : the preprint server for health sciences · 2024Article
- The genetic advantage of healthy centenarians: unraveling the central role of NLRP3 in exceptional healthspan.Frontiers in aging · 2024Review
- Secular trends of life expectancy and disability-free life expectancy at age 65 and associated gender and area-level socioeconomic inequalities in Hong Kong: a serial cross-sectional study between 2007 and 2020.The Lancet regional health. Western Pacific · 2023Article
- Article
- The Influence of Easing COVID-19 Restrictions on the Physical Activity Intentions and Perceived Barriers to Physical Activity in UK Older Adults.International journal of environmental research and public health · 2022Article
- Article
- Association between the Mediterranean Diet Score and Healthy Life Expectancy: A Global Comparative Study.The journal of nutrition, health & aging · 2022Article
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
6 authors.
Funding
Abstract
objectivesA clear understanding of whether increases in longevity are spent in good health is necessary to support ageing, health and care-related policy.
designWe conducted a systematic review to update and summarise evidence on trends in health expectancies, in Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) high-income countries. DATA SOURCES: Four electronic databases (MEDLINE, 1946-19 September 2019; Embase 1980-2019 week 38; Scopus 1966-22 September 2019, Health Management Information Consortium, 1979-September 2019), and the UK Office for National Statistics website (November 2019). ELIGIBILITY CRITERIA: English language studies published from 2016 that reported trends in healthy, active and/or disability-free life expectancy in an OECD high-income country. DATA EXTRACTION AND SYNTHESIS: Records were screened independently by two researchers. Study quality was assessed using published criteria designed to identify sources of bias in studies reporting trends, and evidence summarised by narrative synthesis.
findingsTwenty-eight publications from 11 countries were included, covering periods from 6 to 40 years, between 1970 and 2017. In most countries, gains in healthy and disability-free life expectancy do not match the growth in total life expectancy. Exceptions were demonstrated for women in Sweden, where there were greater gains in disability-free years than life expectancy. Gains in healthy and disability-free life expectancy were greater for men than women in most countries except the USA (age 85), Japan (birth), Korea (age 65) and Sweden (age 77).
conclusionAn expansion of disability in later life is evident in a number of high-income countries, with implications for the sustainability of health and care systems. The recent COVID-19 pandemic may also impact health expectancies in the longer term.
Indexed as
Identifiers
What OpenQuestion holds
Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.