Jonas Minet Kinge1, Ólöf Anna Steingrímsdóttir2, Joakim Oliu Moe3, Vegard Skirbekk4, Øyvind Næss5, Bjørn Heine Strand5. 1. Norwegian Institute of Public Health (NIPH), Oslo 0170, Norway Department of Health Management and Health Economics, University of Oslo, Oslo, Norway. 2. Norwegian Institute of Public Health (NIPH), Oslo 0170, Norway. 3. Department of Health Management and Health Economics, University of Oslo, Oslo, Norway. 4. Norwegian Institute of Public Health (NIPH), Oslo 0170, Norway Columbia Aging Center, Columbia University, New York, NY, USA. 5. Norwegian Institute of Public Health (NIPH), Oslo 0170, Norway Department of Community Medicine, University of Oslo, Oslo, Norway.
Abstract
BACKGROUND: Socioeconomic inequalities in life expectancy have been shown among the middle aged and the youngest of the old individuals, but the situation in the oldest old is less clear. The aim of this study was to investigate trends in life expectancy at ages 85, 90 and 95 years by education in Norway in the period 1961-2009. METHODS: This was a register-based population study including all residents in Norway aged 85 and over. Individual-level data were provided by the Central Population Register and the National Education Database. For each decade during 1961-2009, death rates by 1-year age groups were calculated separately for each sex and three educational categories. Annual life tables were used to calculate life expectancy at ages 85 (e85), 90 (e90) and 95 (e95). RESULTS: Educational differentials in life expectancy at each age were non-significant in the early decades, but became significant over time. For example, for the decade 2000-9, a man aged 90 years with primary education had a life expectancy of 3.4 years, while a man with tertiary education could expect to live for 3.8 years. Similar numbers in women were 4.1 and 4.5 years, respectively. Even among 95-year-old men, statistically significant differences in life expectancy were found by education in the two last decades. CONCLUSION: Education matters regarding remaining life expectancy also for the oldest old in Norway. Life expectancy at these ages is low, so a growth of 0.5 years in the life expectancy differential is sizeable.
BACKGROUND: Socioeconomic inequalities in life expectancy have been shown among the middle aged and the youngest of the old individuals, but the situation in the oldest old is less clear. The aim of this study was to investigate trends in life expectancy at ages 85, 90 and 95 years by education in Norway in the period 1961-2009. METHODS: This was a register-based population study including all residents in Norway aged 85 and over. Individual-level data were provided by the Central Population Register and the National Education Database. For each decade during 1961-2009, death rates by 1-year age groups were calculated separately for each sex and three educational categories. Annual life tables were used to calculate life expectancy at ages 85 (e85), 90 (e90) and 95 (e95). RESULTS: Educational differentials in life expectancy at each age were non-significant in the early decades, but became significant over time. For example, for the decade 2000-9, a man aged 90 years with primary education had a life expectancy of 3.4 years, while a man with tertiary education could expect to live for 3.8 years. Similar numbers in women were 4.1 and 4.5 years, respectively. Even among 95-year-old men, statistically significant differences in life expectancy were found by education in the two last decades. CONCLUSION: Education matters regarding remaining life expectancy also for the oldest old in Norway. Life expectancy at these ages is low, so a growth of 0.5 years in the life expectancy differential is sizeable.
Authors: Wilma J Nusselder; Anja M B De Waegenaere; Bertrand Melenberg; Pintao Lyu; Jose R Rubio Valverde Journal: BMC Public Health Date: 2022-09-02 Impact factor: 4.135