Americans spend more years sick than rest of world: AMA study

Even as Americans live longer, they spend more of their years in poor health than any other country, a new study shows.

People in the US live with illness for 12.4 years on average – up from 10.9 years in 2000, according to a study published by the American Medical Association Wednesday. 

The US offers the starkest illustration of a so-called healthspan-lifespan gap that is widening around the world, as chronic illnesses take up larger portions of people’s lives. While life expectancy has long been a standard measure of public health, researchers are increasingly focused on health-adjusted life expectancy, which tracks the number of years people live in good health. 

A direct comparison of the two metrics shows increases in people’s healthspans are lagging longevity gains, the research shows.

“These results underscore that around the world, while people live longer, they live a greater number of years burdened by disease,” wrote study authors Armin Garmany and Andre Terzic of the Mayo Clinic. 

Globally, the healthspan-lifespan gap climbed from 8.5 years in 2000 to 9.6 years in 2019, marking a 13% increase, according to their data analysis on all 183 member states of the World Health Organization. 

It implies a paradox whereby a lower likelihood of death exposes survivors to a higher burden from chronic disease, the authors wrote. The five countries with the largest healthspan-lifespan gaps are all affluent nations, while the smallest gaps are found in the Global South.

In the US, mental and substance-use disorders are the biggest factors to blame, along with musculoskeletal diseases that affect joints, bones and muscles. The discrepancy is even higher for American women, whose healthspan-lifespan gap is, on average, 2.6 years wider than their male counterparts’ – because they tend to live longer and are also more likely to have musculoskeletal conditions.

Tailored interventions specific to each country’s needs will be key to maximizing equitable and sustainable healthy aging, the authors wrote.

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