(37-HLT) Health-adjusted life expectancy, at birth, by sex and income group, Canada and provinces, 2001

Health-adjusted  life expectancy, at birth and income group Males Females
Health-adjusted life expectancy 95% confidence interval Coefficient of variation for health-adjusted life expectancy Health-adjusted life expectancy 95% confidence interval Coefficient of variation for health-adjusted life expectancy
Low High Low High
2001  
Canada  
All income groups 68.3 68.1 68.5 0.1 70.8 70.6 70.9 0.1
Income group, tercile 1 (lowest) 65.8 65.5 66.0 0.2 69.1 68.8 69.4 0.2
Income group, tercile 2 (middle) 68.6 68.3 68.8 0.2 70.8 70.5 71.1 0.2
Income group, tercile 3 (highest) 70.5 70.2 70.8 0.2 72.3 72.0 72.6 0.2
Newfoundland and Labrador  
All income groups 68.4 67.6 69.1 0.6 70.2 69.2 71.1 0.7
Income group, tercile 1 (lowest) 66.6 65.3 67.9 1.0 68.9 67.3 70.5 1.2
Income group, tercile 2 (middle) 69.3 68.1 70.5 0.9 70.2 68.6 71.8 1.1
Income group, tercile 3 (highest) 69.0 67.6 70.4 1.0 71.6 70.1 73.1 1.1
Prince Edward Island  
All income groups 67.3 66.4 68.3 0.7 71.7 70.6 72.7 0.7
Income group, tercile 1 (lowest) 65.2 63.5 66.9 1.4 71.8 70.3 73.3 1.0
Income group, tercile 2 (middle) 67.5 66.0 69.1 1.2 70.5 68.5 72.6 1.5
Income group, tercile 3 (highest) 69.5 67.9 71.1 1.2 72.5 70.9 74.1 1.1
Nova Scotia  
All income groups 66.5 65.8 67.3 0.6 70.1 69.5 70.8 0.5
Income group, tercile 1 (lowest) 63.5 62.2 64.8 1.0 68.1 66.9 69.2 0.9
Income group, tercile 2 (middle) 67.5 66.4 68.6 0.8 70.4 69.3 71.5 0.8
Income group, tercile 3 (highest) 68.6 67.2 69.9 1.0 71.9 70.8 73.0 0.8
New Brunswick  
All income groups 67.4 66.7 68.1 0.5 70.9 70.2 71.7 0.5
Income group, tercile 1 (lowest) 66.5 65.3 67.6 0.9 70.4 69.1 71.6 0.9
Income group, tercile 2 (middle) 66.9 65.6 68.1 0.9 70.0 68.6 71.3 1.0
Income group, tercile 3 (highest) 68.9 67.7 70.2 0.9 72.8 71.7 73.9 0.8
Quebec  
All income groups 69.0 68.6 69.3 0.2 72.0 71.7 72.4 0.2
Income group, tercile 1 (lowest) 66.7 66.2 67.2 0.4 70.9 70.4 71.4 0.4
Income group, tercile 2 (middle) 69.1 68.5 69.6 0.4 71.8 71.2 72.4 0.4
Income group, tercile 3 (highest) 71.3 70.7 71.8 0.4 73.5 72.9 74.2 0.4
Ontario  
All income groups 68.2 67.9 68.5 0.2 70.1 69.8 70.4 0.2
Income group, tercile 1 (lowest) 65.5 64.9 66.0 0.4 68.0 67.4 68.5 0.4
Income group, tercile 2 (middle) 68.4 67.9 68.9 0.4 70.3 69.8 70.8 0.4
Income group, tercile 3 (highest) 70.6 70.1 71.1 0.4 71.8 71.2 72.4 0.4
Manitoba  
All income groups 66.7 66.1 67.4 0.5 70.4 69.8 71.0 0.4
Income group, tercile 1 (lowest) 62.9 61.8 64.0 0.9 67.7 66.6 68.8 0.8
Income group, tercile 2 (middle) 67.7 66.6 68.8 0.8 71.7 70.7 72.8 0.7
Income group, tercile 3 (highest) 69.1 68.2 70.0 0.7 71.2 70.2 72.3 0.7
Saskatchewan  
All income groups 67.3 66.7 67.9 0.4 70.2 69.6 70.8 0.4
Income group, tercile 1 (lowest) 63.9 62.9 65.0 0.9 68.3 67.2 69.3 0.8
Income group, tercile 2 (middle) 67.8 66.8 68.7 0.7 70.6 69.7 71.6 0.7
Income group, tercile 3 (highest) 70.0 69.1 70.9 0.6 71.5 70.6 72.5 0.7
Alberta  
All income groups 67.6 67.1 68.1 0.4 69.7 69.1 70.3 0.4
Income group, tercile 1 (lowest) 64.6 63.8 65.4 0.6 68.6 67.7 69.6 0.7
Income group, tercile 2 (middle) 68.2 67.3 69.0 0.6 69.7 68.6 70.7 0.8
Income group, tercile 3 (highest) 70.3 69.5 71.2 0.6 70.8 69.8 71.7 0.7
British Columbia  
All income groups 68.9 68.5 69.3 0.3 71.2 70.8 71.6 0.3
Income group, tercile 1 (lowest) 66.9 66.2 67.5 0.5 69.3 68.6 70.1 0.6
Income group, tercile 2 (middle) 69.0 68.3 69.6 0.5 70.7 69.9 71.4 0.5
Income group, tercile 3 (highest) 70.7 70.0 71.3 0.5 73.4 72.7 74.1 0.5
1. Data sources: Statistics Canada, Canadian Vital Statistics, Death Database; Canadian Community Health Survey, 2000/01; National Population Health Survey, 1996/97, cross sectional sample, Institutions component; and 2001 Census
2. Life expectancy is the number of years a person would be expected to live, starting from birth (for life expectancy at birth) or at age 65 (for life expectancy at age 65), if the age- and sex-specific mortality rates for a given observation period (such as a calendar year) were held constant over the estimated life span.
3. The estimates are based on two years of death data (2000 and 2001).
4. Health-adjusted life expectancy is a more comprehensive indicator than that of life expectancy because it introduces the concept of quality of life. Health-adjusted life expectancy is the number of years in perfect health that an individual can expect to live given the current morbidity and mortality conditions. Health-adjusted life expectancy uses the Health Utility Index (HUI) to weigh years lived in good health higher than years lived in poor health. Thus, health-adjusted life expectancy is not only a measure of quantity of life but also a measure of quality of life.
5. To calculate terciles, all the units of a population are ranked from lowest to highest by the value of their income. Then the ranked population is divided into three groups of equal numbers of units, called terciles. The first tercile refers to the lowest third of incomes, while the third tercile contains the top third incomes.
6. The calculation of health-adjusted life expectancy and life expectancy by income tercile was based on the ecological approach. In this method, enumeration areas were assigned to an income tercile based on household income from the 1996 Census.
7. The 95% confidence interval (CI) illustrates the degree of variability associated with a rate. Wide confidence intervals indicate high variability, thus, these rates should be interpreted and compared with due caution.
8. Data with a coefficient of variation (CV) from 16.6% to 33.3% are identified by an (E) and should be interpreted with caution.
9. Data with a coefficient of variation (CV) greater than 33.3% were suppressed (F) due to extreme sampling variability.
10. The following standard symbols are used in Statistics Canada publications: (..) for figures not available for a specific reference period and (...) for figures not applicable.
11. CANSIM table number 01020121.