Active Aging Index and Healthy Life Expectancy in Bangladesh

Md. Ismail Tareque, University of Rajshahi, Bangladesh and Tokyo Medical and Dental University
Nazrul Hoque, University of Texas at San Antonio
Towfiqua Mahfuza Islam, University of Rajshahi, Bangladesh
Kazuo Kawahara, Tokyo Medical and Dental University
Makiko Sugawa, Tokyo Medical and Dental University

This paper examines the relationships between increased life expectancy and healthy life expectancy (HLE) in Bangladesh by examining the relationships between active aging index (AAI) and HLE. The AAI was constructed using 2009 survey data from the Rajshahi District of Bangladesh, which was collected using Probability Proportion to Size sampling technique. The Sullivan method was used to compute HLE, followed by Pearson’s correlation analysis. The results suggest that urban, more educated male elderly are more active in all aspects of life and have longer HLE. The mean difference of 6.62 years for urban male elderly reveals that male elderly could expect more disability free life in comparison with other cohorts in all areas. Females are found to outlive males but are more likely to live a greater part of their remaining life in disability. As expected, we found very strong and significantly positive correlation between AAI and HLE.