A Comparative Analysis of Health Expectancy in Central Asia and Russia: Negative- and Positive-Health Approach

Abstract

Existing research has investigated health expectancy in the former Soviet countries, but health in that research is defined only by physical health conditions. Guided by the conceptual framework of negative and positive health, this study estimates two types of health expectancy—healthy life expectancy (LE) and happy LE—for men and women 30 years old and older in Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, and Tajikistan and compares the results with Russia. We use the data on self-rated health to measure negative health and focus on happiness as an indicator of positive health from the latest wave of the World Values Survey. The analyses based on the Sullivan method demonstrate pronounced differences in healthy and happy LE between the three republics of Central Asia and Russia. Men and women in Russia had significantly lower healthy and happy LE compared to their Central Asian counterparts. We noted upturns in healthy and happy LE among the Russian population over the past decade, but the gap between Central Asia and Russia remains significant. Our results show how Central Asian countries enjoy healthier and happier life than Russia despite their lower levels of socioeconomic development. The findings suggest the importance of the multi-faceted approach to health in understanding patterns of population health status in the former Soviet space.