title: Educational differences in life expectancy over five decades among the oldest old in Norway.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Socioeconomic inequalities in life expectancy have been shown among the middle aged and the youngest of the old individuals, but the situation in the oldest old is less clear. The aim of this study was to investigate trends in life expectancy at ages 85, 90 and 95 years by education in Norway in the period 1961-2009.
  
  
  METHODS
  This was a register-based population study including all residents in Norway aged 85 and over. Individual-level data were provided by the Central Population Register and the National Education Database. For each decade during 1961-2009, death rates by 1-year age groups were calculated separately for each sex and three educational categories. Annual life tables were used to calculate life expectancy at ages 85 (e85), 90 (e90) and 95 (e95).
  
  
  RESULTS
  Educational differentials in life expectancy at each age were non-significant in the early decades, but became significant over time. For example, for the decade 2000-9, a man aged 90 years with primary education had a life expectancy of 3.4 years, while a man with tertiary education could expect to live for 3.8 years. Similar numbers in women were 4.1 and 4.5 years, respectively. Even among 95-year-old men, statistically significant differences in life expectancy were found by education in the two last decades.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Education matters regarding remaining life expectancy also for the oldest old in Norway. Life expectancy at these ages is low, so a growth of 0.5 years in the life expectancy differential is sizeable.
authors.affiliation: Norwegian Institute of Public Health (NIPH), Oslo 0170, Norway Department of Health Management and Health Economics, University of Oslo, Oslo, Norway.
authors.forename: Jonas Minet
authors.initials: JM
authors.lastname: Kinge
authors.affiliation: Norwegian Institute of Public Health (NIPH), Oslo 0170, Norway.
authors.forename: Ólöf Anna
authors.initials: ÓA
authors.lastname: Steingrímsdóttir
authors.affiliation: Department of Health Management and Health Economics, University of Oslo, Oslo, Norway.
authors.forename: Joakim Oliu
authors.initials: JO
authors.lastname: Moe
authors.affiliation: Norwegian Institute of Public Health (NIPH), Oslo 0170, Norway Columbia Aging Center, Columbia University, New York, NY, USA.
authors.forename: Vegard
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Skirbekk
authors.affiliation: Norwegian Institute of Public Health (NIPH), Oslo 0170, Norway Department of Community Medicine, University of Oslo, Oslo, Norway.
authors.forename: Øyvind
authors.initials: Ø
authors.lastname: Næss
authors.affiliation: Norwegian Institute of Public Health (NIPH), Oslo 0170, Norway Department of Community Medicine, University of Oslo, Oslo, Norway.
authors.forename: Bjørn Heine
authors.initials: BH
authors.lastname: Strand
mesh_terms: D000367:Age Factors; D000369:Aged, 80 and over / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D004522:Educational Status; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008017:Life Expectancy; D015993:Life Tables; D008297:Male; D009664:Norway / Q000453:epidemiology; D012042:Registries; D012737:Sex Factors
keywords: Norway, older people; education; life expectancy; oldest old; socioeconomic factors