Objective: To estimate the life expectancy of persons with physical disabilities in China based on data related to representative national disability.
Methods: Life table technique was used to estimate the life expectancy and its standard error by various characteristics on the basis of average mortality rates from the monitoring cases during 2007 - 2010.
Results: (1) Females were expected to live longer than males. The life expectancy at birth for females was 63 years with standard error (SE) = 2.6 while for males it was 55 years (SE = 3.1). (2) Persons aged 35 - 50 in urban areas had higher life expectancy than those in rural areas. (3) Life expectancy of persons with mild disability [62.5 years (SE = 2.4)] was higher than that of persons with severe disability [42 years (SE = 5.4)]. (4) Life expectancies of persons with physical disability were much lower than that of the Chinese general population. Gaps of male and female life expectancy at birth were 17.1 years and 12.7 years, respectively.
Conclusion: Persons with physical disability had higher mortality and actions should be taken to improve their life expectancy, accordingly.