Americans living longer and healthier lives, study shows

Americans are not just living longer lives, but healthier ones as well, according to a study published this month in the American Journal of Public Health.

Previous studies focused on longevity without taking into account quality-of-life factors.

Researchers at UMass Medical School took data gleaned from several government-backed health surveys from the last 21 years and overlapped the data, resulting in a single, large data set that covered the entire adult population.

The study showed that the average American can expect to live about four years longer than a person born two decades ago, thanks to advances in medicine and new drug treatments. 

Improvements in medical care are also raising the quality of life for many Americans. The study found that people are reporting fewer symptoms of disease, less problems with daily tasks such as walking, and more energy.

A 25-year-old person today can expect to live 6 percent or 2.4 quality years longer than their 1987 counterpart. Meanwhile, a 65-year-old person will gain 1.7 quality years, a 14 percent increase from a generation ago.

Allison Rosen, senior author of the study, told UMassMedNow that the research “tells us what the relative quality of those added years are in terms of physical, emotional and mental well-being.”

“Though many studies have measured this in different ways, this is really the first time we’ve been able to capture this type of information across the whole U.S. population over an extended period.”

Advances in health care mean that many conditions are far more treatable today than 25 years ago, Rosen said. 

Heart disease, for example, is a far more treatable than it was a generation ago. “Today, it is far less likely that a patient recovering from a heart attack will become institutionalized or need around-the-clock care the way they once might have,” Rosen said.

Americans today are more likely to experience a decrease in quality of life due to chronic, degenerative diseases such as Alzheimer’s.

The same study indicated some troubling health trends such as an increase in ailments among younger Americans stemming from a sedentary lifestyle, as well as an increase in anxiety among young and middle-aged people.

With the Affordable Care Act scheduled to go into effect in 2014, Rosen said that comprehensive, cohesive studies such as this one ensure the ability to measure the success of the government's health plan. 

The ability, she said, to assess the success of the ACA will tell us whether or not we are “getting the most health bang for our bucks.”

Amel Ahmed contributed to this report.