Mortality and life expectancy of elderly people after World War II in Hungary

Erzsébet Debreceni, Center for Social Studies at the Hungarian Academy of Sciences

The paper deals with the post World War II epidemiological process in Hungary concerning mortality and life expectancy of elderly people. The three phases of the epidemiological process are defined on the basis of the trends of mortality and life expectancy of the population of Hungary. Life expectancy of 60 years old people increased 0.9 years between 1949-1966, decreased 0.36 years between 1966-1993 and increased again 1.67 years between 1993-2004. There are significant differences in the change of life expectancy of elderly people by gender in the studied periods. The life expectancy of 60 years old males increased 0.3 years between 1949-1966, decreased 1.67 years between 1966-1993 and increased 1.61 years between 1993-2004. The shifts of life expectancy of 60 years old females in the same periods are: 1.49, 0.58 and 1.68 respectively. Changes of life expectancies are explained in terms of changes of cause specific mortality.