Healthy life expectancy based on self-perceived health describes how many years a person is expected to live in good perceived health. Indicator combines mortality data with data on self-perceived health (Source: EU-SILC).

There are no special classifications for the data set produced here.

Not applicable

The calculation of Health expectancies is based on information on mortality and self-perceived health data.

1. Variables used for mortality component:

• Age specific death rate (Mx)
• Probability of dying between exact ages (qx)
• Probability of surviving between exact ages (px)
• Number left alive at given exact age (lx)
• Person-years lived between exact age (Lx)
• Life expectancy at given exact age (ex)

     For more information, please refer to metadata pages of Mortality (demo_mor) and Life table (demo_mlifetable).

2. Variable used for self-perceived health:

Variable : Self-perceived general health (How is your health in general? Is it ... [very good] [good] [fair] [bad] [very bad]).

The good perceived health takes in answer categories "very good", "good" and "fair" self-perceived health.

The question does not measure temporary health problems. It refers to health in general rather than the present state of health. It also includes the different dimensions of health, i.e. physical, social and emotional function and bimedical signs and symptoms. Respondents are not specifically asked to compare their health with others of the same age or with their own previous or future health state.

Statistical observations are individuals.

The whole EU population aged 15+ is covered.

European Union, EU Member States, United Kingdom, Iceland, Norway, Switzerland and Croatia.

2004 onwards for Belgium, Denmark, Estonia, Ireland, Greece, Spain, France, Italy, Luxembourg, Austria, Portugal, Finland, Sweden, Iceland and Norway;

2005 onwards for the other EU Member States, except Bulgaria and Romania for which the series starts in 2006 respectively 2007.

Data for Switzerland are available from 2008 and for Croatia from 2010.

Not applicable

Indicator Health expectancies based on self-perceived health is presented for women and men and at different ages (at birth, at 50 and at 65).

Reference year is defined as the calendar year.

• Second Programme of Community Action in the Field of Health 2008-2013
• Together for Health: A Strategic Approach for the EU 2008-2013

Not applicable

Regulation (EC) No 223/2009 on European statistics (recital 24 and Article 20(4)) of 11 March 2009 (OJ L 87, p. 164), stipulates the need to establish common principles and guidelines ensuring the confidentiality of data used for the production of European statistics and the access to those confidential data with due account for technical developments and the requirements of users in a democratic society.

Not applicable

March/N+2; (N = year of data collection)

Information upon request.

In line with the Community legal framework and the European Statistics Code of Practice Eurostat disseminates European statistics on Eurostat's website (see item 10 - 'Accessibility and clarity') respecting professional independence and in an objective, professional and transparent manner in which all users are treated equitably. The detailed arrangements are governed by the Eurostat protocol on impartial access to Eurostat data for users.

Yearly.

News releases on-line.

Not applicable.

Not applicable.

Micro-data are not disseminated.

http://ec.europa.eu/eurostat

Related methodology in ESMS page hlth_hlye_esms.

• For the disability component: National quality reports of EU-SILC .
• For mortality: ESMS page.

Please consult the quality assurance in European Statistics Code of Practice.

Member States are urged to use standardised questionnaire, however between 2004 and 2008 the implementation of the health questions in the different SILC questionnaire in national languages was not fully harmonised and this limits the comparability across countries and over time.

For instance: In Finland, from 2007 onwards, answer categories were changed for the question of self-perceived health in order to be in accordance with the standard version of Questionnaire. This caused a break in seris for Finnish data before and after 2007.

There are also cultural differences between countries, that might influence the interpretation and answers to the question of self-perceived health. However combining answer categories "very good", "good" and "fair" self perceived health reduce this influence.

• Institutional users like other Commission services, particularly DG SANCO, ECHIM, DG REGIO, DG EMPL.
• Researchers (e.g. The Joint Action EHLEIS (2011-2014)).
• End users - including the media - interested in public health in the EU.

Not applicable.

Data on health expectancies based on self-perceived health are considered to be very complete.

Institutional households are not included in the EU-SILC. It is assumed that the population living in the private households covered by EU-SILC is representative for the total population.

For the health status please see the metadata pages of Income and Living conditions.

For the health status please see the metadata pages of Income and Living conditions.

For almost all countries the timeliness of the HLY indicators is around 15 months. Timeliness is different for the health status data and mortality data. Please consult timeliness in metadata pages of Income and Living conditions and Mortality (demo_mor).

Punctuality is different for health related data from EU-SILC and mortality data but is considered to be very good for almost all countries.

Please consult timeliness in metadata pages of Income and Living conditions and Mortality (demo_mor).

Comparability is determined by the comparability of the data sources.

EU-SILC is based on a common framework defined by harmonized lists of target primary and secondary variables, common concepts, a recommended design, common requirements (for imputation, weighting, sampling errors calculation) and classifications aiming at maximising comparability of the information produced. See the ESMS pages of SILC.

Comparability for the mortality data, conducted as a joint demographic data collection in cooperation with United Nation Statistical Division (UNSD), is considered very high. See the ESMS pages of mortality.

See ESMS pages of SILC and mortality.

Not applicable.

The statistical outputs are consistent.

Indicator is derived from other data sources and in this sense costs and burden for countries in the calculation, description and evaluation are very limited.

Revisions occur when previous missing values are available and replace the estimated/provisional ones or when the data sources are revised.

The normal update is done in March/N+1; (N = year of data dissemination); For some mortality data and SILC revisions an update a few months later might occur.

For the mortality part: demography statistics.

For the health status: EU-SILC

Annual

See the metadata pages of mortality statistics and EU-SILC.

Please see data validation procedures in the metadata pages of mortality and EU-SILC statistics.

Indicator is calculated by the Sullivan method based on life table data and age-specific period prevalence data of the health status in question. See the methodological document in Annex: Healthy life expectancy based on self-perceived health:Method

To find statistical procedures used for adjusting the data, please refer to the ESMS pages of mortality and EU-SILC statistics.

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