Gender Disparity of Loneliness Health Expectancy Associated with Living Arrangement of the Chinese Older Adults

Jilei Wu, Peking University
Qi Yu, Institute of Population Research, Peking University
Bingyi Wu, School of Management, Shandong Second Medical University

Background: With socio-economic development and demographic transition, the Chinese family structures has alternated a lot, especially the living arrangements of older adults with much more of them living alone. This study was to evaluate the association between living alone and loneliness life expectancy (LLE) among older adults considering the gender disparity. Data and Methods: The study examined samples aged 65-105 from the Chinese Longitudinal Healthy Longevity Survey (CLHLS). Using multi-state life table method and stratified by gender and living arrangement, the age-specific transition probabilities of loneliness and life expectancy (LE) and lonely life expectancy (LLE) were calculated with software package of iMaCh. Results: The study shown that, firstly, the older adults in China experienced significantly longer LLE with LE increasing. Secondly, older adults living alone endured longer LLE and higher LLE/LE.. Thirdly, among females living alone, the LLE/LE was the highest, reaching 39.48% at age 65, compared to 20.96% for males not living alone. Conclusions: As facing ageing society, the living arrangements of the older in China should be a vital policy indicator for loneliness, which is critical for improving the quality of life among older adults, particularly women living alone, is essential for effective social security policies.

Keywords: Population Ageing, Longitudinal studies , Mortality and Longevity, Health and Morbidity

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