Healthy Life Expectancies by the Effects of Hypertension and Diabetes for the Middle Aged and Over in Taiwan

Abstract

(1) Introduction: This study aims to investigate the disparity in the healthy life expectancy of the elderly with hypertension and diabetes mellitus. (2) Materials and Methods: This study used survey data collected in five waves (1996, 1999, 2003, 2007, and 2011) of the “Taiwan Longitudinal Study on Aging” (TLSA) to estimate the life expectancy and healthy life expectancy of different age groups. The activities of daily living, the health condition of hypertension and diabetes and the survival statuses of these cases were analyzed by the IMaCh (Interpolated Markov Chain) and logistic regression model. (3) Results: As regards the elderly between age 50 and 60 with hypertension and diabetes, women with hypertension only exhibited the longest life expectancy, and the healthy life expectancy and the percentage of remaining life with no functional incapacity were 33.74 years and 87.11%, respectively. In contrast, men with diabetes only showed the shortest life expectancy, and the healthy life expectancy and the percentage of remaining life with no functional incapacity were 22.51 years and 93.16%, respectively. We also found that people with diabetes showed a lower percentage of remaining life with no functional incapacity. (4) Conclusions: We suggest that policymakers should pay special attention to publicizing the importance of health control behavior in order to decrease the risk of suffering diseases and to improve the elderly’s quality of life.

The impact of long-term conditions on disability-free life expectancy: A systematic review

“…The LTCs specified in the inclusion criteria and identified in the included studies were mainly self-reported. Thirteen studies reported a single condition [4][5][6]10,28,[30][31][32][33][34][35][36][37], while the remaining 17 [7][8][9][10][11][12][13][14][15][16][17][18]27,29,[38][39][40] reported the impact of more than one condition ranging from two to nine LTCs. Despite the high number of studies reporting more than one LTC,…”

“…Nineteen studies [4,5,8,[10][11][12][13][14][15][16][17][18]27,29,31,34,36,38,41] (Table 2) examined the impact of diabetes on health expectancy. Four out of the 19 studies (representing five population samples) provided estimates of SEs or 95% CI of DFLE at age 65 and could be included in a meta-analysis.…”

“…Six additional studies [10,11,14,15,18,36] evaluated the effect of diabetes at age 65. Of these, three [11,18,36] focussed on elimination of diabetes, reporting small gains in LE (range of gain in LE: 0.10 to 1.8 years), and in two studies [18,36], the gain in DFLE years was greater than that in LE signifying a compression of disability after diabetes elimination.…”

“…Other studies have attempted to break down the disability burden of multiple LTCs and have identified heart disease [10][11][12], stroke [8,13] or dementia [14] as the most important causes of DFLE and/or LE loss. In addition, a few studies have examined the issue of comorbidity trying to assess whether disability could be attributed to one or more LTCs [8,10,13,15]. The potential changes in DFLE and LE resulting from the elimination of various LTCs has also been estimated in some populations [12,[16][17][18] to determine whether better control of these conditions would postpone the onset of disability.…”

Factors Related to Diabetes Mellitus in the Middle-Aged and Over in Taiwan

“…Tsai and Lee [ 27 ] pointed out the key factors of weight, betel nut chewing, IADL (Instrumental Activity of Daily Living), exercise, hypertension, heart disease, kidney disease, drinking, and depression conditions in diabetes mellitus of the aged. Liang et al [ 28 ] investigated the disparity in the healthy life expectancy of the elderly with hypertension and diabetes mellitus.…”