HEALTH EXPECTANCY BY LEVEL OF EDUCATION IN FINLAND

Using the method first presented by Sullivan, the article presents res ults on health expectancy by level of education and gender in the late 1980s in Finland. The life tables by level of education cover the yea rs 1986-90. Indicators of disability and poor health were based on thr ee variables from the nationwide 1986 Survey on Living Conditions (N = 12,057): limiting long-standing illness, functional disability and po or self-perceived health. Two cutting points indicating different leve ls of severity of disability or poor health were used for each measure , giving six dichotomous indicators. Disability free life expectancy a nd life expectancy with disability were found to depend strongly on th e indicator of disability, but the patterns of differences both betwee n genders and between educational categories were largely independent of the indicators used. Life expectancy as well as disability-free lif e expectancy showed a systematic relationship with level of education: the higher the level of education, the higher the life expectancy and disability-free life expectancy. The differences between educational categories in disability-free life expectancy were markedly larger tha n in total life expectancy. Life expectancy with disability was shorte st among the more educated and longest among the less educated. Due to the higher life expectancy and the higher prevalence of disability am ong women, life expectancy with disability was longer among women than men according to all indicators. (C) 1997 Elsevier Science Ltd.