NEWS

Study: Americans living longer, but also sicker

Saerom Yoo
Statesman Journal

The U.S. has made headway in delaying death, but it’s falling behind in preventing ailments, a recent study has found.

Americans’ life expectancy, as with other people around the world, is rising, but people are living more years with illness and disability, according to a study from theUniversity of Washington’s Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation.

The study, which was published in The Lancet medical journal, analyzed 306 diseases and injuries in 188 countries.

Advances in treatments for HIV/AIDS and malaria, as well as other public health achievements, increased global life expectancy for both men and women by 6.2 years between 1990 and 2013, according to the study.

But healthy life expectancy, which takes into account the years people live with disabilities and years lost due to premature death, grew more slowly — by 5.4 years. This means that more people are living longer, but with illness and disability.

The discrepancy is also true in the U.S., according to the study. Its life expectancy grew 4.4 years for men and 2.6 years for women. But healthy life expectancy grew 3.1 years for men and 1.6 years for women.

In addition, the U.S. ranked No. 49 globally in healthy life expectancy, lower than most developed nations, as well as some less wealthy nations.

Ali Mokdad, co-author of the study and professor of global health at UW, said the U.S. falls behind because of factors such as socioeconomic disparities, poor health care access, chronic disease and behavioral risks, including obesity, inactivity, smoking and drinking.

He said the U.S. has done a poor job of preventing illness. The key is delaying illness, he said.

“We have done a better job of dealing with what’s killing us,” Mokdad said in a phone interview, “but not with what’s ailing us.”

Mokdad said while overall, the U.S. life expectancy has risen, there are pockets of the country where life expectancy has actually declined.

For example, Malheur County’s female life expectancy decreased by 1.3 years between 1985 and 2013. Counties in the South were also more likely to experience loss of life expectancy. Fayette and Walker counties in Alabama each lost about 4 years in female life expectancy.

Meanwhile, Teton County in Wyoming gained 7 years in its female life expectancy in the same time period.

“This disparity is what’s dragging us back,” Mokdad said.

The leading causes of healthy years lost for American men in 2013 were coronary heart disease, low back and neck pain, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, lung cancer and diabetes. For American women, the top five were low back and neck pain, coronary heart disease, depressive disorders, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease and other musculoskeletal disorders.

Improving Americans’ health is not just the work of the medical and public health systems, Mokdad said. It will take all sectors of society; employers, schools, city planners, engineers are all needed to help make healthy decisions easier.

“We have a long way to go in the U.S., and other countries have done much better than us,” Mokdad said.

syoo@StatesmanJournal.com, (503) 399-6673 or follow at Twitter.com/syoo.

Countries with highest healthy life expectancy, both sexes, 2013

1. Japan

2. Singapore

3. Andorra

4. Iceland

5. Cyprus

6. Israel

7. France

8. Italy

9. South Korea

10. Canada

Source: Institute of Health Metrics and Evaluation, University of Washington