This project seeks to determine which diseases and risk factors have a substantial impact on disability, mortality and life expectancy among the elderly in the Netherlands. For this project data available from the GLOBE cohort will be used as well as a large dataset obtained through linkage of various data sources of statistics Netherlands (CBS).
2. Disability, mortality and life expectancy among the elderly: The Rotterdam study
Data from the ERGO study will be used to longitudinally study relations between exposure to risk factors and the occurrence of disease, disability and mortality. We are currently setting detailed priorities for studying disability and mortality in an elderly population using data of the ERGO study.
3. Compression or expansion of disability: Past trends and scenarios for the future
This project, which will develop scenarios for the future development of disability and life expectancy, will explore under which conditions a compression of disability is most likely to occur. A start has been made with the development of a Multi State Life Table.
4. Health of aging populations: Impact on healthcare expenditure and informal care costs
This project will translate changes in morbidity, disability and mortality into changes in healthcare expenditure. We carried out literature studies and sought expert opinion in order to investigate the determinants of healthcare consumption and costs and the role of the final year(s) of life. The next step will be to compare different estimation models for healthcare expenditures and identify the data sources required for further study.
5. Health of aging populations: Impact on costs of pension systems
The project aims to explore the relationships between survival patterns, the health status of the elderly, and their decisions to enter early retirement. Information gleaned from the study of these relationships will help us to quantify the costs and benefits of pension systems. We developed models for longevity risk in order to quantify the effect that occurs when uncertain future changes in mortality probabilities impose risk on pension funds and (life) insurers (referred to as macro-longevity risk).
6. Incentives for investing in a long and healthy life
This project studies the incentives for investing in future health for three important societal actors (the government, health insurers and the individual). These incentives are used in reimbursement decisions and in the evaluation of health interventions aimed at improving future health.
