Gender and educational inequalities in disability-free life expectancy among older adults living in Italian regions

Abstract

BACKGROUND Italy’s life expectancy at age 65 is one of the highest in Europe, but its disability-free life expectancy (DFLE) is not so high. To understand this diverging pattern of longevity and health it is essential to consider indicators accounting for both mortality and morbidity, and to analyse the gender, social, and geographical inequities characterising them. OBJECTIVE The aim is to quantify the gender, social, and geographical inequalities in DFLE among Italian older adults and analyse the age-specific contribution of mortality and morbidity to those inequalities.