Has the life expectancy of the French increased? And if so, do they live in good health or with a disability? These important indicators for describing the health of the French people are regularly updated and published by the DREES (Research, Studies, Evaluation and Statistics Department). And these indicators have just been published for the year 2021.
Life expectancy and disability-free life expectancy
For several decades, the life expectancy of both men and women has been increasing in France. Women still have a greater life expectancy than men, even if the gap is gradually narrowing with changes in lifestyles. Quickly, the specialists distinguished two complementary indicators:
- Life expectancythat is to say the average lifespan of a defined category of population;
- Life expectancy in good health or life expectancy without disabilitycorresponding to the length of life before the development of a major functional disability, which interferes with the activities of daily living.
Disability-free life expectancy is necessarily lower than life expectancy and it notably reflects the efficiency of prevention and health systems. It is therefore important for adapting public health policies. At the same time, specialists calculate life expectancy either at birth or at a given age. In France, the DREES determines these indicators and publishes them each year.
An increase in disability-free life expectancy for both men and women
Since 2008, the life expectancy of French people without disability at age 65 has increased for men and women. Since 2018, the DREES has been publishing disability-free life expectancy, and has just published data for the year 2021, while revising the 2020 data impacted by the Covid-19 health crisis. In 2021, disability-free life expectancy at age 65 for men was 11.3 years and 12.6 years for women. Thus, a 65-year-old man can on average live until the age of 76.3 years without disability (65 years extended by 11.3 years).
This indicator has evolved positively since 2008, with an increase of 2 years and 7 months for women and 2 years and 8 months for men. The comparison of life expectancy and disability-free life expectancy shows that disability-free life expectancy increases faster than life expectancy, reducing the number of years spent with a disability. For a 65-year-old woman, the average proportion of years to live without disability is 54.4% in 2021, compared to 44.7% in 2008. These figures are 59.3% and 47.7% for men.
A noticeable impact of the pandemic on life expectancy
In 2021, disability-free life expectancy at birth is 67 years for women and 65.6 years for men. This indicator places France above the average for European countries, in tenth place for men and fifth for women. In 2020, data on life expectancy were marked by the Covid-19 pandemic. The life expectancy of French people without disabilities remained stable in 2020, while life expectancy fell. This trend is explained by the higher mortality linked to Covid-19 in the elderly.
In 2021, life expectancy resumed its upward trend, but with a small increase. Disability-free life expectancy has risen sharply. Nevertheless, the DREES qualifies these results, given the difficulties in collecting data on disability in the course of the years 2020 and 2021. The disability was most often only self-declared, without objective verification of the real disability to carry out daily activities. The figures for 2022, which will be published by the start of 2024, should make it possible to verify the evolution of life expectancy and disability-free life expectancy.
Estelle B., Doctor of Pharmacy
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