Silicon Investor (SI) -- The First Internet Community

STOCKTALK

We've detected that you're using an ad content blocking browser plug-in or feature. Ads provide a critical source of revenue to the continued operation of Silicon Investor. We ask that you disable ad blocking while on Silicon Investor in the best interests of our community. If you are not using an ad blocker but are still receiving this message, make sure your browser's tracking protection is set to the 'standard' level.

Politics : View from the Center and Left -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Paul Kern who wrote (105743)	3/9/2009 5:45:11 PM
From: Lane3	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 541761

We're not so hot by life expectancy either. That's full of flaws, too, although better than WHO, which includes life expectancy among its criteria along with a lot of extraneous stuff. There are simply too many uncontrolled variables in the life expectancy calculation to make it the gold standard. Understandably, no one seems to have the hard data to make that kind of comparison. What we do have provides food for thought but as a ranking system it's not ready for prime time.

To: Paul Kern who wrote (105743)	3/10/2009 2:09:44 PM
From: TimF	Respond to of 541761

"The "health level" reliance on life expectancy is also dubious, as it is influenced by factors not related to healthcare—such as tobacco consumption, diet and so on. The fact that some Americans are obese and smoke has little to do with the healthcare system, yet these factors again drag the USA down the ranking." - Glen Whitman --- ...This low ranking in life expectancy is often pointed to as being the result of the deficiencies of the health care system in the U.S. The problem with this thinking however is that it does not account for the fact that the U.S. has a disproportionate number of individuals who die as the result of fatal injuries compared to the other wealthy nations of the world. This does not reflect upon the quality of health care in the U.S., in that these events almost universally occur independently of the condition of health of the individuals who die as a result of these factors. Two University of Iowa researchers, Robert L. Ohsfeldt and John E. Schneider, reviewed the data for the nations of the OECD to statistically account for the incidence of fatal injuries for the member countries. The dynamic table below presents their findings, showing both the average life expectancy from birth over the years 1980 to 1999 without any adjustment (the actual "raw" mean), and again after accounting for the effects of premature death resulting from a non-health-related fatal injury (the standardized mean). You may sort the data in the dynamic table from low to high value by clicking on the column headings, or from high to low value by clicking a second time. Table 1-5: Mean Life Expectancy at Birth, OECD Countries, Actual and Standardized by OECD Mean Fatal Injury Rates, 1980-99 Standardized Mean (Accounts for Fatal Injuries) ? United States 76.9 Switzerland 76.6 Norway 76.3 Canada 76.2 ... Japan 76.0 France 76.0 ... Italy 75.8 UK 75.7 ... politicalcalculations.blogspot.com The Carpe Diem blog has an interesting table, reproduced above, that corrects life expectancy data for differences in the rates of premature death from non-health-related injury, such as homicide and car accidents. The resulting number reflects health-related mortality. Notice that the United States has the longest standardized life expectancy. I have not studied the details behind the construction of these numbers, but they are asking a sensible question. If our goal is to evaluate health systems, we should correct for international differences in outcomes that arise from other causes. Homicide and accidents are only the beginning of the story, however. For example, I would also correct for differences in obesity, which are largely a function of lifestyle and can have significant health effects. Here, from OECD data presented in the O'Neil study, are the percentages of the male population with a body-mass index of 30 or more (female obesity rates are similar): Japan 2.8 France 9.8 Germany 14.4 Canada 17.0 U.K. 22.7 U.S. 31.1 Given how overweight we Americans are compared with citizens of other countries, it is amazing that we live as long as we do. If we further standardized life expectancy by body-mass index, the U.S. lead in health outcomes would likely grow even larger. gregmankiw.blogspot.com