The objective of this study is to present the
method proposed by Sullivan and to estimate
the healthy life expectancy using different measures
of state of health, based on information
from the World Health Survey carried out in
Brazil in 2003. By combining information on
mortality and morbidity into a unique indicator,
simple to calculate and easy to interpret, the
Sullivan method is currently the one most commonly
used for estimating healthy life expectancy.
The results show higher number of healthy
years lost if there is a long-term disease or disability
that limits daily activities, regardless of
the difficulty in performing such activities or
the severity of the functional limitations. The
two measures of healthy life expectancy adjusted
by the severity of functional limitation show
results very similar to estimates based on the
perception of state of health, especially in advanced
age. It was also observed, for all measures
used, that the proportion of healthy years
lost increases significantly with age and that, although
females have higher life expectancy
than males, they live proportionally less years in
good health.