The effect of personal health care services on longevity in an economically advanced population.

This article is an attempt to assess the effect of personal health care on longevity. It is assumed throughout that personal health care has a differential impact on the various causes of death. Historical and cross-sectional comparisons of the relative incidence of certain causes of death can, under this assumption, provide some insight into the effectiveness of personal health care generally and may provide a gauge of the relative benefits of different personal health care delivery systems. Using the U.S. male population of 1964 as a reference point, it is estimated that the withdrawal of personal health services would result at the most in a decrease in average length of life from 66.9 to 60.5 years.