Social class differences in disability and disability free life expectancy at old age: evidence from the English Longitudinal Study of Ageing (ELSA)

Faiza Tabassum, University College London
Edlira Gjonca, University College London
James Nazroo, University of Manchester

Objectives: To investigate the social class differences in survival with and without disability in English population aged 50 years and over. Design: Cross-sectional; Wave-1 of English Longitudinal Study of Ageing (ELSA). Participants: 11391 men and women of aged 50 years or above were included in the analyses. Main outcome measures: Disability index which was constructed by taking into account ADLs, IADLs and mobility as well as the official life table data of England & Wales by social class. Methods: Life expectancies with- and without-disability were calculated by social class and by age groups by combining disability information from ELSA to the official life tables of England. Results: Disability found to increase with age and generally more females than males were disabled. A social class gradient in disability was found; such that people in the higher social classes had lower rates of disability than people in the lower social classes. Men in the highest social class were expected to live eight years more than men in the lowest social class in the age group 50-54. There was a trend in disability-free life expectancy by social class both in men and women however, the trend diminished after 74 years in men but remained in women. A trend by social class in life expectancy with disability was found in women, e.g. women in the highest social class were expected to live 3 years in disability compared to 10 year in disability in the lowest social class in the age group 50-54 years. However, in men the trend in life expectancy with disability was reversed in the older ages. Conclusion: A social class gradient in life expectancy with- and without-disability was found and this trend was more evident in women across all the age groups.