Health and life expectancies: data introduction
NRS publish life expectancy (LE) and healthy life expectancy (HLE) estimates annually for Scottish areas.
The Office for National Statistics (ONS) also publish life expectancy (LE) and healthy life expectancy (HLE) estimates annually for the UK nations and their local authorities.
Both LE and HLE can be estimated for people at various ages, not just at birth. For example, an average man aged 65 could expect to live a further 17.5 years, 9.9 of them in ‘healthy’ condition. An average 65-year-old woman could expect to live a further 19.8 years, 10.7 of them in ‘healthy’ condition.
When comparing LE or HLE from different sources or that have been produced at different points in time it is helpful to consider the following:
- What data aggregations are used (do estimates use a single year of data or do they cover multiple years).
- Have statistical modelling techniques been applied (estimates for smaller geographies often use statistical modelling techniques to remove effects of random variation, particularly within younger and older age groups).
- For HLE estimates only, what is the source of information on health condition (commonly used sources include census data, Annual Population Survey (APS) or Scottish Health/Household Surveys (SHoS/SHeS)).
LE and HLE are often presented alongside 95% confidence intervals, these indicate the precision in terms of the likely range of random year-to-year statistical variability in the data used to produce the estimates. It should be emphasised that it is not possible to quantify effects such as any inconsistencies in how people interpret and respond to questions about their health, or any unusual circumstances which affect the figures for a particular area or year (e.g. impact of COVID-19 pandemic on survey delivery methodology).
