Active Life Expectancy of the Elderly Japanese: 1987, 1990 and 1999

Yasuhiko Saito, Nihon University
Eileen Crimmins, University of Southern California

In a number of countries changes in health over the past two decades have been documented. For instance, in both France and the United States disability decreased over the last two decades but the prevalence of some major diseases increased. We estimate active life expectancy in 1987, 1990 and 1999 in order to examine changes in the level of disability among the elderly Japanese over the period employing two nationally representative longitudinal surveys conducted in Japan. The questions we address are: 1) Were there changes in active life expectancy over the period? 2) Do changes in active life expectancy, if any, differ by severity of disability? 3) Do changes in active life expectancy differ by gender?