Page 7 - IJPS-4-1

International Journal of Population Studies

RESEARCH ARTICLE

Race, sex and depression-free life
expectancy in Brazil, 1998–2013

1*
Luciana Correia Alves and Claudia Cristina Pereira 2
1 Department of Demography. Population Studies Center Elza Berquó – NEPO.
University of Campinas – UNICAMP, Brazil
2 National School of Public Health (ENSP), Fundação Oswaldo Cruz (Fiocruz), Rio de
Janeiro, Brazil

Abstract: Depression brings a great burden of disease to Brazil. This study investigates
depression-free life expectancy (DFLE) between 1998 and 2013 in the country. We
used data from Brazilian National Household Survey, National Health Survey and Life
Tables provided by the Brazilian Institute of Geography and Statistics considering
individuals 30 years and older. DFLE by race and sex was calculated using the Sullivan
ARTICLE INFO
Received: August 26, 2017 method. We observed improvements in DFLE over time, for all race/color groups. In
Accepted: October 19, 2017 general, men had a smaller share of years lived with depression when compared to
Published Online: October
25, 2017 women within the same race groups. Compared to whites, blacks/ browns and people of
other races/colors had the highest DFLE for both men and women. White women had
*CORRESPONDING AUTHOR the lowest percentage of DFLE. Blacks displayed better estimates of DFLE and lower
Luciana Correia Alves, Núcleo number of years living with depression than whites, despite the evidence of worse
de Estudos de População “Elza
Berquó”, Universidade Estadual health outcomes depicted in the literature. Further research is needed to understand the
de Campinas, Unicamp, lower depression prevalence found for blacks that reflects directly into a higher DFLE.
Cidade Universitária Zeferino
Vaz, Av. Albert Einstein, 1300 –
Sala 24, 13081-970, Campinas Keywords: race; health inequalities; healthy life expectancy; depression-free life
– SP, Brazil; luciana@nepo. expectancy; Brazil
unicamp.br

CITATION 1. Introduction
Alves LC and Pereira CC
(2018). Race, sex and
depression-free life expectancy Brazil has witnessed a rapid and accentuated process of demographic transition.
in Brazil, 1998–2013. Mortality in Brazil declined significantly since 1940. This reduction in mortality levels
International Journal of was much more rapid than that experienced by developed countries. In Brazil, life
Population Studies, 4(1):1-9.
doi: 10.18063/ijps.v4i1.412 expectancy has increased by 30 years between 1940 and 2000 (Carvalho and Garcia,
2003). Brazilian Demographic Census in 2010 indicated that life expectancy reached
Copyright: © 2018 Alves LC 73.8 years (IBGE, 2010).
and Pereira CC. This is an Simultaneously, a process of epidemiological transition was also verified,
Open Access article distributed characterized by the increase in the contribution of chronic and degenerative illnesses
under the terms of the
Creative Commons Attribution- to the total number of deaths, which to a certain extent, substituted the contribution
NonCommercial 4.0 of infectious diseases. This new situation resulted in important changes in the profile
International License (http://
creativecommons.org/ of the Brazilian population, characterized by a greater prevalence and incidence of
licenses/by-nc/4.0/), permitting chronic-degenerative diseases.
all noncommercial use, Race plays a key role in determining health. Race as a social definition that captures
distribution, and reproduction
in any medium, provided the the reflexes of historical and cultural processes that ultimately translate themselves
original work is properly cited. into different aspects of people’s health and even in health disparities observed

International Journal of Population Studies | 2018, Volume 4, Issue 1 1