The short life span in Russia reflects high levels of ill health and disability and is associated with a rapid, age related decline in physical functioning. Analysing 9489 randomly selected men and women from Sweden and 1599 from Russia, Bobak and colleagues (p 767) found that the decline in health and physical functioning is greater in older men and women in Russia than in Sweden. Survival without disability in middle aged and older Russians is about a third of that in Sweden.
Figure 1.
Credit: GERD LUDWIG/PANOS