Importance of Bio-Medical and Socio-Economic Factors for Increase of Life Expectancy

Abstract

This paper analyzes the connection between life expectancy according to sex and numerous factors on which its level depends on. Statistical analysis understood application of correlation and regression analysis for determining the connection strength of life expectancy and researched factors separately, and then all factors together, as well as separately groups of health-medical and socio-economic factors. The analysis was carried out for a group of developed countries, medium developed, mixed group and Yugoslavia (now SCG) on available data for the second half of the 20th century.

Analysis results for Yugoslavia showed that the greatest influence on life expectancy of all factors together were setting aside funds for social security (p<0.05). If only health-medical factors are observed, then child mortality up to 5 years and tumor mortality are in question. With women, the greatest influence is with child mortality up to five years old among all factors (<p0.05), or only among health-medical, but in that case it is far less than with men.

In developed countries, the strongest connection with life expectancy were the number of sick-beds with men (p<0.05), and with women the parameter of potentially lost years due to tumor (p<0.01). In medium developed countries, the most influence on women's life expectancy was maternal mortality (p=0.014), and with men no researched factor was statistically significant. In the mixed sample, the strongest connection with men was with gross national income per capita (p<0.01), and with women with child mortality up to five years old (p=0.017).

Therefore, on the basis of the determined statistical importance of certain factors, analysis showed that the influence of socio-economic factors on life expectancy was very strong in present conditions of mortality, not only in positive, but in negative direction as well, and that their influence in that second half of the 20th century was greater than the influence of health-medical factors. Also, it seems that the males are more sensitive to these factors than women.