Identify Contribution of Diseases to Disability and Healthy Expectancy:Urban-Rural Disparities among Elderly Population in China

As composite of mortality and morbidity, health expectancy has advantage over single indicators when exploring socioeconomic disparities in health. Although huge income gap between urban and rural residents has been reported in China, little research has been done in discussing the urban-rural disparities in health expectancy and the underlying causes. Based on 2006 China Disability Survey, this study used attribution tool to identify the causes of disability by individual diseases and employed Sullivan method to compute life expectancy lived with disability by diseases. Urban male have 4.08 years (female: 4.95 years) lived with disability while rural male have 4.72 years (female: 5.46 years) lived with disability. Leading diseases of presbycusis, cataract, cerebrovascular disease, osteoarthritis and unclassified injury accounted for different years of disability. Different diseases patterns of disability and health expectancy exist among urban and rural areas. Such an identification provides a support to Chinese policy for fighting against disability among elderly.