Disability-free life expectancy (DFLE) estimates provide an insight into the population’s functional health by indicating the number of years an individual might expect to spend free from a limiting disability or health problem in his or her lifetime. Using 2011 Census data, this analysis is the first to calculate DFLE by the newly established NHS Clinical Commissioning Groups. DFLE estimates are useful for those who plan and provide health and social care, nationally as well as locally.

Key Points

• Females spend more of their life with a disability compared with males, showing gender inequality in disability-free life expectancy (DFLE) across England.
• Generally people living in Clinical Commissioning Groups (CCGs) in the North of England live more years with a disability compared to those in CCGs in the South.
• Differences in DFLE are not solely confined to the North-South divide; males and females living in NHS Tower Hamlets at age 50 have a lower DFLE (an 8.1 and 9.2 difference in years, respectively) than those nearby in NHS Richmond.
• The CCG with the largest difference between males and females in the proportion of life spent disability free is NHS Bradford City; 6.4 percentage points at birth, and 9.6 at age 50.
• At age 65 London based CCGs NHS Brent and NHS Harrow have the largest difference between males and females in the proportion of life spent disability free (8.7 percentage points).