Life expectancy and mortality

Introduction

Life expectancy (estimated length of life) is considered to be the ultimate measure of the health and wellbeing in an area and as a tool for identifying health inequality. To this end it is the overarching outcome of the Department of Health Public Health Outcomes Framework.

Mortality (frequency of deaths or death rate) is also a measure of health and wellbeing. High mortality, especially premature mortality, has a high personal, economic and social cost and is a sign of poor health and wellbeing.

Key inequalities and risk factors

Areas of higher deprivation have lower life expectancies and higher mortality rates than their less deprived counterparts.  Detailed ward level analysis of mortality is available from the LGA Inform Plus report for Bracknell Forest.

Facts, figures and trends

Life expectancy at birth

Life expectancy at birth measures the average number of years a person would expect to live if the morality rate remains constant.  Life expectancy has risen year on year for the past ten years and continues to rise.

Life expectancy for both males and females in Bracknell Forest is slightly above the national average and is comparable to the South East average:

Healthy life expectancy at birth

Healthy life expectancy at birth measure is a slightly different measure.  It is a measure of the average number of years a person would expect to continue to live in good health.  The data is derived from self reported good health responses to a survey question on general health.  The data is aggregated by the Office for National Statistics over a three year period. Healthy life expectancy at birth is again above the national average for both men and women and comparable to the South East average:

	2009-11		2010-12		2011-13
	Males	Females	Males	Females	Males	Females
England	63.2	64.2	63.4	64.1	63.3	63.9
South East	65.7	67.0	65.8	67.1	65.6	66.6
Bracknell Forest	67.2	68.1	67.0	67.9	67.9	66.0

Life expectancy from age 65

Data for the South East and Bracknell Forest (below) tells us that average life expectancy at age 65 continues to be higher than the south east and all England average for both men and women.

	2010-12		2011-13		2012-14
	Males	Females	Males	Females	Males	Females
England	18.56	21.10	18.67	21.13	18.77	21.19
South East	19.20	21.60	19.30	21.70	19.30	21.70
Bracknell Forest	19.50	21.60	19.50	21.80	19.30	22.40

Mortality from all causes

All cause mortality in females appears to be declining, with data showing that the rate in Bracknell Forest was 571.12 per 100,000 population in 2013. For males there is an upward trend, with the rate being higher at 618.2 per 100,000 population for the same year.

It should be noted, however, that rates for both males and females for all three years were still far lower than the regional and national averages as the following graphs show.

Female all cause mortality in Bracknell Forest, 2011 to 2013:

Source: Health and Social Care Information Centre – NHS Indicator Portal

Male all cause mortality in Bracknell Forest, 2011 to 2013:

Source: Health and Social Care Information Centre – NHS Indicator Portal

Mortality considered preventable

Causes considered preventable are illnesses or conditions which could have been prevented through good quality healthcare or wider public health interventions.

Early intervention and prevention is key to people leading a better quality of life for longer.  Health and care interventions which promote, protect, and improve health (as opposed to treat ill health) help people to live healthier lives and reduce, prevent or avoid ill health, (e.g. heart disease, diabetes, cancer).

Over the period 2010-2014, mortality from causes considered preventable has reduced for women and men in Bracknell Forest as the following graph shows:

Priestwood and Wildridings were significantly higher than the ward average for mortality from all causes between 2010 and 2014. Warfield shows the lowest rate of all wards in Bracknell Forest.

Source: Berkshire Public Health Team based on Primary Care Mortality Database data

This page was created on 25 February 2014. It was last updated on 25 May 2016.

Cite this page:

Bracknell Forest Council. (2016). JSNA – Life expectancy and mortality. Available at: jsna.bracknell-forest.gov.uk/bracknell-forest-profile/demography/life-expectancy-and-mortality (Accessed: dd Mmmm yyyy)

 

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