We found a match
Your institution may have access to this item. Find your institution then sign in to continue.
- Title
Did the health of the Dutch population improve between 2001 and 2008? Investigating age- and gender-specific trends in quality of life.
- Authors
Gheorghe, Maria; Brouwer, Werner; Baal, Pieter; Brouwer, Werner B F; van Baal, Pieter H M
- Abstract
Although many countries' populations have experienced increasing life expectancy in recent decades, quality of life (QoL) trends in the general population have yet to be investigated. This paper investigates whether QoL changed for the general Dutch population over the period 2001-2008. A beta regression model was employed to address specific features of the QoL distribution (i.e., boundedness, skewness, and heteroskedasticity), as well non-linear age and time trends. Quality-adjusted life expectancy (QALE) was calculated by combining model estimates of mean QoL with mortality rates provided by Statistics Netherlands. Changes in QALE were decomposed into those changes caused by QoL changes and those caused by mortality-rate changes. The results revealed a significant increase in QoL over 2001-2008 for both genders and most ages. For example, QALE for a man/woman aged 20 was found to have increased by 2.3/1.9 healthy years, of which 0.6/0.8 was due to QoL improvements.
- Subjects
NETHERLANDS; DEMOGRAPHY; HEALTH status indicators; INTERVIEWING; QUALITY of life; QUALITATIVE research
- Publication
European Journal of Health Economics, 2015, Vol 16, Issue 8, p801
- ISSN
1618-7598
- Publication type
journal article
- DOI
10.1007/s10198-014-0630-4