Japan, the country with the longest life expectancy, is rarely included in cross-country comparisons such as this one. In this study, researchers examined the relative contributions of social and behavioral factors on the differences in survival among older people in Japan and England using data from the Japan Gerontological Evaluation Study and the English Longitudinal Study of Aging. After adjusting for age and baseline health status, JAGES participants had longer survival than ELSA participants by 318.8 days for women and by 131.6 days for men. Compared to participants in England, Japanese older people lived longer mainly because of non-smoking for women and family-based social relationships for men. In contrast, a lower rate of underweight, men's better friendship-based social relationships, and a lower smoking rate contributed to survival among participants in England.
NBHC Population Health