Living longer: For better or worse? Changes in life expectancy with and without mobility limitation among older persons in India between 1995-1996 and 2004

Abstract

This study estimates changes in life expectancy with and without mobility limitation to test whether older persons in India experienced compression or expansion of morbidity from the period 1995–1996 to 2004. Age-specific death rates and the prevalence of mobility limitation were obtained from the Sample Registration System and two rounds (1995–1996/2004) of the National Sample Survey. Sullivan’s method was employed to compute life expectancy with and without mobility limitation by gender and by place of residence. From 1995–1996 to 2004, at ages 60, 70, and 80, older men and older rural persons in India experienced a significant increase in life expectancy without mobility limitation and a significant reduction in the proportion of remaining life with mobility limitation, suggesting a compression of morbidity. However, over this same period, older women and older urban persons seem to have experienced an expansion of morbidity with an increase in life expectancy with mobility limitation and an increase in the proportion of remaining life with mobility limitation. These results call for the promotion and maintenance of physical mobility among all older persons in India, with special attention to older women and older urban persons.