Are Measures of Health Status for the Total Population Good Proxies for the Health of the Older Population in International Comparison Studies?

Abstract

In the face of population aging, the health of older people is becoming especially important, impacting various areas of life, societies and countries’ economies. To provide the basis for effective decisions to achieve better health, comparative analyses can be used to find best practices to follow. The aim of the research was to check whether drawing conclusions about the older population’s health based on the health status of the total population is justified in international comparison analyses. An analysis was conducted for six population health indicators for European countries from 2010–2019. Rankings were created for the total population and the older subpopulation, and then ranks for these two populations were compared using statistical methods. The statistical analyses indicate that there is a strong, statistically significant relationship between the ranks for the total and the older population. However, looking at the descriptive analysis and visual presentation of data, differences in international rankings of indicator values for these two populations can be observed. As older people comprise a specific group of the population that is growing ever bigger and increasingly significant, it would be advisable to present the results of international comparisons not only for the total, but separately for the older population as well.