Life Expectancy in Pre-Frail and Frail States with and without Disability: 18-Years of Follow-Up Data from the HEPESE Study Using the Markov Chain Method

We estimated the total life expectancy (TLE), frailty-free life expectancy (FFLE), frail life expectancy (FLE), pre-frail life expectancy (PFLE), and FLE with and without disability among 2,000 Mexican Americans aged ≥67 years over an 18-year period. Frailty was defined as the presence of ≥2 criteria (weight loss, weakness, self-reported exhaustion, slowness). We used the Markov chain method to estimate the TLE, FFLE, FLE, PFLE, and FLE with and without disability by age and gender. TLE at age 67 was 17.49 years (women) and 15.54 years (men); FFLE was 6.50 years (women) and 6.45 years (men); PFLE was 6.48 years (women) and 5.42 years (men); FLE was 4.51 years (women) and 3.67 years (men); and FLE with disability was 2.13 years (women) and 1.13 years (men). In conclusion, Mexican American older women had fewer years of non-frail LE, more pre-frail or frail years, and more years with disability than men.