Health Status of Older People. Evidence from Europe
Health Status of Older People. Evidence from Europe

Summary/Abstract: The objective of this article is to show the health status of the older population throughout European countries and indicate the data needs for a comprehensive comparative analysis of health status and its risk factors. The article briefly discusses definitions of health status in older age and presents adequate health status indicators. It discusses life expectancy, healthy life expectancy, disability adjusted life expectancy, the main causes of death as well as the prevalence of long- term illnesses, multimorbidity and functional health limitations across European countries, pointing out regional differences of the health status of older people. Next, several behavioural risks of poor health occurring in older age are shown: smoking, alcohol overuse and falls. The article concludes by demonstrating the need for more detailed, comparative and standardized data on the health status of older people across European countries, presenting sex and age- specific morbidity and health limitations as well as health risks.

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