Older Persons in Urban Areas of Latin America and the Caribbean: Active Life Expectancy and Multidimensional Disability Profiles from Sabe

Dulce Baptista, London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine

We estimate active life expectancies for older persons in 6 urban areas in Latin America and the Caribbean, incorporating cognitive, emotional and physical domains of health of these individuals. Data come from the Health, Well-Being and Ageing in Latin America and the Caribbean (SABE) survey, a cross-sectional survey conducted in Buenos Aires (Argentina), Bridgetown (Barbados), Sao Paulo (Brazil), Santiago (Chile), Havana (Cuba), Mexico City (Mexico) and Montevideo (Uruguay) in 2000. Grade of membership model is used to identify multidimensional disability profiles and to get the prevalence of these profiles in population. The analyses show that although life expectancies at age 60 are similar in the selected urban areas, active life expectancy varies significantly. The analyses also show that although women have higher life expectancy than men, they present lower active life expectancy, as well as lower proportion of remaining life time without disabilities.