title: Disability-free life expectancy: a cross-national comparison among Bulgarian, Italian, and Latin American older population.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To present sociodemographic and health status harmonized variables constructed to evaluate cross-national differences in term of Disability Free Life Expectancy (DFLE) across different surveys.
  
  
  METHODS
  The study comprises national surveys conducted in Bulgaria, Italy, and Latin America and the Caribbean. A homogeneous group of health determinants for the older population was created and the DFLE indicator based on Sullivan's method was developed considering the harmonized common variables on disability.
  
  
  RESULTS
  For all countries, DFLE values decline as age increases for both sexes, with a pronounced decline among women. Regardless the native country, women always present higher Life Expectancy than men at each age; however, they live a higher percentage of these years with disability.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Further research should be carried out with standardized instruments that allow a more direct comparison, along with measurements of the potential differences across countries, which could explain differences in disability prevalence and DFLE.
authors.affiliation: National Research Council, Institute of Neuroscience, Padova, Italy. nadia.minicuci@unipd.it
authors.forename: Nadia
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Minicuci
authors.forename: Marianna
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Noale
authors.forename: Esther Maria
authors.initials: EM
authors.lastname: León Díaz
authors.forename: Madelín
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Gómez León
authors.forename: Alessandra
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Andreotti
authors.forename: Margareta
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Mutafova
mesh_terms: D000203:Activities of Daily Living / Q000523:psychology*; D000367:Age Factors; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D000375:Aging / Q000502:physiology*; D002031:Bulgaria; D016001:Confidence Intervals; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D006233:Persons with Disabilities; D005260:Female; D006304:Health Status; D006306:Health Surveys; D006630:Hispanic or Latino; D006801:Humans; D038622:Internationality; D007558:Italy; D007843:Latin America; D008017:Life Expectancy / Q000639:trends*; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D011788:Quality of Life / Q000523:psychology*; D012647:Self-Assessment; D012737:Sex Factors; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires