Healthy Life Expectancy in 2010 for Native Hawaiian, White, Filipino, Japanese, and Chinese Americans Living in Hawai’i

Abstract

Healthy life expectancy (HALE) varies substantially among countries, regions, and race/ethnicities. Utilizing the Sullivan method, this article examines HALE for Native Hawaiian, White, Filipino, Japanese, and Chinese Americans living in Hawai’i, the United States. HALE varies by sex and race/ethnicity. The HALE at birth in 2010 for females was 78.3, 77.8, 74.2, 73.7, and 62.6 years in contrast to life expectancy of 90, 88, 88.1, 83.4, and 79.4 for Chinese, Japanese, Filipino Americans, White, and Native Hawaiians, respectively. In the same order, HALE at birth for males was 73.0, 71.6, 72.3 70.7, and 60.7 years, compared with life expectancy of 85.3, 81.2, 80.8, 78.3, and 73.9. The gaps in HALE between Native Hawaiians and the longest living Chinese Americans were 15.7 years for females and 12.3 years for males. Our results highlight sex and racial/ethnic disparities in HALE, which can inform program and policy development.