Volume 47 - Article 29 | Pages 919–934 Author has provided data and code for replicating results

Gender and educational inequalities in disability-free life expectancy among older adults living in Italian regions

By Margherita Moretti, Cosmo Strozza

Print this page  Facebook  Twitter

 

 
Date received:13 May 2022
Date published:08 Dec 2022
Word count:2546
Keywords:disability, gender, health, inequalities, Italy, mortality, older adults, regions
DOI:10.4054/DemRes.2022.47.29
Additional files:readme.47-29 (text file, 4 kB)
 demographic-research.47-29 (zip file, 3 kB)
 

Abstract

Background: Italy’s life expectancy at age 65 is one of the highest in Europe, but its disability-free life expectancy (DFLE) is not so high. To understand this diverging pattern of longevity and health it is essential to consider indicators accounting for both mortality and morbidity, and to analyse the gender, social, and geographical inequities characterising them.

Objective: The aim is to quantify the gender, social, and geographical inequalities in DFLE among Italian older adults and analyse the age-specific contribution of mortality and morbidity to those inequalities.

Methods: This study draws on census-linked mortality data and disability prevalence for the years 2012–2014. DFLE at age 65 in Italian regions is computed by gender and educational attainment using the Sullivan method. Age-specific mortality–morbidity contributions to the gender and educational gaps in DFLE are calculated using the stepwise decomposition method.

Results: Although at the national level older women and men share similar DFLE, these estimates hide important geographical and social inequalities. Women’s health disadvantage completely outweighs their life expectancy advantage, resulting in lower DFLE. Educational inequalities in health are far more dramatic than those in mortality and the disadvantage in DFLE accumulates over education and region of residence.

Conclusions: In Italy notable differences in DFLE are found between genders and between educational groups, suggesting the need for better health policies aimed at reducing inequalities.

Contribution: This study provides novel empirical findings on gender, educational, and geographical inequalities in DFLE for Italian older adults and explains how age-specific mortality and morbidity contribute to shaping these inequalities.

Author's Affiliation

Margherita Moretti - Università degli Studi di Roma La Sapienza, Italy [Email]
Cosmo Strozza - Syddansk Universitet, Denmark [Email]

Most recent similar articles in Demographic Research

» A systematic literature review of studies analyzing the effect of sex, age, education, marital status, obesity, and smoking on health transitions
Volume 20 - Article 5    | Keywords: gender, health, mortality

» The Spanish flu and the health system: Considerations from the city of Parma, 1918
Volume 47 - Article 32    | Keywords: Italy, mortality

» Do tenants suffer from status syndrome? Homeownership, norms, and suicide in Belgium
Volume 46 - Article 16    | Keywords: inequalities, mortality

» A world apart: Levels and determinants of excess mortality due to COVID-19 in care homes: The case of the Belgian region of Wallonia during the spring 2020 wave
Volume 45 - Article 33    | Keywords: gender, mortality

» Gendering health differences between nonmigrants and migrants by duration of stay in Italy
Volume 45 - Article 7    | Keywords: gender, Italy