A Consideration of the Life Lost as a Health Indicator

Abstract

Using the male data in 1965, the authors investigated the validity of life lost as a health indicator in eighteen countries and each prefecture of Japan. Moreover, we deviced a new health indicator "Life Gained" meaning age-corrected life gained and investigated the validity of the new indicator as a health indicator. The procedure for calculating the crude life gained is as follow : Crude Life Gained=Σ The results obtained were as follows : 1) The relationships between life lost and life span, infant death rate and corrected PMI were markedly high, but the relationships of life lost to corrected death rate and average death age were not so high. 2) The difference of corrected life lost and crude life lost was not so remarked. 3) The age of 80 years or so was adequate for the target years of age for life lost. 4) The new health indicator "Life Gained" proposed here, was very valid for the estimation of health level in the areas.