(Commonwealth Union) – The lifespan of an individual is known to be affected by a variety of factors such as genetics, diet and exercise.
According to a study by Monash University published in PharmacoEconomics, Australian men aged 25 who hold a university degree or higher can expect to live 7.3 years longer than their peers with less education (those who finished Year 11 or earlier).
For women of the same age, those with higher education levels have a life expectancy that’s 3.9 years longer than women with lower educational attainment.
The research also revealed a strong association between educational background and quality-adjusted life expectancy (QALE). QALE is a health metric often used in healthcare planning — one QALE year indicates one year lived in full health. Therefore, if a person has 45 years remaining to live but suffers from a chronic illness, their QALE would be lower because of the reduced quality of life due to that illness.
The study was carried out by researchers from the Centre for Medicine Use and Safety (CMUS), part of the Monash Institute of Pharmaceutical Sciences (MIPS). The team analysed quality of life data specific to sex and education from the Household, Labour and Income in Australia (HILDA) Survey, focusing on Australians aged 25 and older. Mortality rates were examined using national-level statistics from the Person-Level Integrated Data Asset (PLIDA).
Professor Zanfina Ademi, a health economist and lead author of the study, heads the Health Economics and Policy Evaluation Research (HEPER) group at CMUS. She noted that while efforts to tackle health disparities are gaining momentum both in Australia and worldwide, using geographical location as a broad measure of socioeconomic inequality may not capture the full picture.
Professor Ademi indicated that their research zoomed in on educational attainment to explore its effect on both life expectancy and quality of life at the individual level in Australia.
“What we uncovered is significant inequalities in life expectancy and QALE among Australians depending on education attainment, which is concerning. Monitoring inequalities related to educational attainment is essential to inform policy for health equity; so it’s our hope this national snapshot of education-related health inequality can help measure progress and support intersectoral policy discussion.”
The research revealed that at age 25, men with higher educational qualifications are expected to live 11.1 more years in good health (QALE) compared to their peers with lower education levels. For women of the same age, those with higher education are projected to enjoy 7.6 additional years of quality-adjusted life expectancy—a 26% relative increase compared to women with less education.
Sheridan Rodda, the study’s lead author and a PhD candidate at the Centre for Medicine Use and Safety (CMUS), noted that while socioeconomic health disparities are widely recognised in Australia, specific QALE estimates based on education levels have been limited.
Ms Rodda stated that there are significant gaps in QALE across educational groups in Australia. This evidence can play a significant role in shaping policies aimed at reducing health disparities by better directing resources and informing future health economic evaluations that prioritise equity.
Researchers of the study stated that health technology assessments that incorporate equity considerations are still in the early phases of development. However, this research marks a significant milestone in moving this approach forward. It builds on a groundbreaking paper recently released by the same team, which examined how factors like age and gender influence life expectancy and quality-adjusted life expectancy (QALE) across different socioeconomic backgrounds and geographic regions.
The study was a joint initiative involving Monash University researchers — Professor Zanfina Ademi, Sheridan Rodda, Dr Melanie Lloyd, and Dr Jedidiah Morton — in collaboration with experts from the Australian National University in Canberra, including Professor Rosemary Korda and Dr Jennifer Welsh.
