Van Oyen H, Tafforeau J, Roelands M
Department of Epidemiology, Institute of Hygiene and Epidemiology, Brussel, Belgium.
Soc Sci Med. 1996 Dec;43(11):1673-8. doi: 10.1016/s0277-9536(96)00080-9.
Mortality differs substantially between the Flemish and Walloon regions is Belgium. The question remains as to whether the health status of both populations varies in a similar way. The difference in healthy life expectancy, an indicator of population health, between the Flemish and Walloon regions was therefore assessed. In 1989-1990 a cross-sectional survey in the general population was performed in which 2640 persons were selected by a multistage random process. Perceived health status was determined through a validated question: "On the whole, how would you describe your health for the moment? Would you say it is very good/good/fair/rather bad/bad?" The prevalence of "being in good health (very good to fair)" was combined with mortality data (Sullivan method) to estimate the healthy life expectancy (HLE), and the following results were found. Among males, life expectancy (LE) and HLE at age 15 was 58.9 years and 56.5 years in the Flemish region, compared with 56.6 and 50.2 years in the Walloon region. At age 65, LE and HLE in the Flemish region was 14.3 and 13.3 years, and only 13.2 and 9.2 years in the Walloon region. Women at age 15 had an LE and HLE in the Flemish region of 65.2 years and 61.3 years, compared to 63.9 and 58.1 years in the Walloon region. At age 65, both the LE and the HLE in the Flemish region were higher, with LE at 18.5 versus 17.7 years, and HLE at 16.0 versus 14.3 years. Similar results were obtained when the criteria of "being in good health" were restricted to those indicating their health to be very good or good. In conclusion, the data indicate that the population in the Walloon region not only has a shorter life but apparently also has a shorter healthy life. Research is needed to explain what proportion of these differences can be attributed to differences in the prevalence of diseases, cultural differences and socio-economic differences.
比利时弗拉芒地区和瓦隆地区的死亡率存在显著差异。问题在于这两个人口群体的健康状况是否以类似方式变化。因此，评估了弗拉芒地区和瓦隆地区之间作为人口健康指标的健康预期寿命差异。1989 - 1990年，对普通人群进行了一项横断面调查，通过多阶段随机过程选取了2640人。通过一个经过验证的问题确定自我感知的健康状况：“总体而言，你如何描述你目前的健康状况？你会说它非常好/好/一般/相当差/差吗？” “健康状况良好（非常好至一般）”的患病率与死亡率数据（沙利文方法）相结合，以估计健康预期寿命（HLE），并得出以下结果。在男性中，弗拉芒地区15岁时的预期寿命（LE）和HLE分别为58.9岁和56.5岁，而瓦隆地区分别为56.6岁和50.2岁。65岁时，弗拉芒地区的LE和HLE分别为14.3岁和13.3岁，而瓦隆地区仅为13.2岁和9.2岁。15岁的女性中，弗拉芒地区的LE和HLE分别为65.2岁和61.3岁，而瓦隆地区分别为63.9岁和58.1岁。65岁时，弗拉芒地区的LE和HLE都更高，LE为18.5岁对17.7岁，HLE为16.0岁对14.3岁。当“健康状况良好”的标准仅限于那些表示自己健康状况非常好或良好的人时，也获得了类似的结果。总之，数据表明瓦隆地区的人口不仅寿命较短，而且显然健康寿命也较短。需要进行研究以解释这些差异中有多大比例可归因于疾病患病率差异、文化差异和社会经济差异。
