The burden of chronic diseases in terms of disability, use of health care and healthy life expectancies

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Abstract
The aim of this paper is to explore the differential impact of chronic conditions on disability, use of health care and healthy life expectancies. The condition-specific impact is described by comparing persons with a variety of chronic diseases. The classification of the 19 selected chronic conditions in terms of the burden for disability and use of health care showed 8 major conditions with a high illness burden: lung disease, heart disease, stroke, cancer, diabetes mellitus, rheumatism and arthritis complaints, neurological disorders and accident traumas. Co-morbidity has an additional impact on disability as well as on the use of medical care and long-term care. The general impact of chronic conditions is described by calculating healthy life expectancies and assessing the loss of healthy life resulting from chronic morbidity, disability and long-term care. Healthy life expectancies show marked gender differences in the burden of chronic diseases. The advantage to females in terms of life expectancy is a disadvantage In terms of healthy life expectancy. The discussion focuses on disease specificity, co-morbidity and population heterogeneity.

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