Cognitively Intact and Happy Life Expectancy in the United States.
OBJECTIVES
We examined the number of years to be lived with and without cognitive impairment and with high self-assessed quality of life (i.e., happiness) among a nationally representative sample of Americans aged 65 years and older. Two key questions are addressed: Can people have a high quality of life despite being cognitively impaired? Which is longer: happy life expectancy or cognitively intact life expectancy?


METHOD
Data from nine waves of the Health and Retirement Study (1998-2014) were used to estimate transition probabilities into and out of cognitively intact/impaired-un/happy states, as well as to death. Recently extended Bayesian multistate life table methods were used to estimate age-specific cognitively intact and happy life expectancy net of sex, race/ethnicity, education, and birth cohort.


RESULTS
Happiness and cognitive impairment were shown to coexist in both the gross cross-tabulated data and in the life tables. Happy life expectancy is approximately 25% longer than cognitively intact life expectancy at age 65 years, and by age 85, happy life expectancy is roughly double cognitively intact life expectancy, on average.


DISCUSSION
Lack of cognitive impairment is not a necessary condition for happiness. In other words, people can have a high quality of life despite being cognitively impaired.
['Bardo|Anthony R|AR|', 'Lynch|Scott M|SM|']
D000368:Aged D000369:Aged, 80 and over D060825:Cognitive Dysfunction D059026:Diagnostic Self Evaluation D005260:Female D006240:Happiness D000073656:Healthy Aging D006801:Humans D008017:Life Expectancy D008137:Longitudinal Studies D008297:Male D016743:Mental Competency D008603:Mental Health D009026:Mortality D011788:Quality of Life D014481:United States
Cognitive impairment Quality of life Health and Retirement Study Mortality Subjective well-being