Plea for change amid rising life expectancies

Fresh research from the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare (AIHW) has revealed the nation’s life expectancy has increased dramatically since the 1960s.
 
Males born between 2019 and 2021 can now expect to live to an average of 81.3 years, while for females life expectancy has reached 85.4 – increases of 13.7 and 11.2 years, respectively.
 
While much of these improvements can be attributed to healthier lifestyles and medical advancements, it is also placing additional pressure on the country’s already busy healthcare system.
 
Professor Mark Morgan, Chair of RACGP Expert Committee – Quality Care told newsGP Australia’s ageing population has created a need to conduct new research and gather data to provide optimal patient care.
 
He also notes that this older cohort is currently ‘missing in action’ within most clinical trials.
 
‘We need to develop expertise in deprescribing and balancing harms and benefits of all manner of treatments,’ Professor Morgan said.
 
‘Single-disease guidelines will be a poor fit for the elderly patients we will increasingly being looking after.
 
‘To achieve this care, patients need adequate rebates for longer consultations and GPs and their practices need to be funded for care coordination activities.’
 
The AIHW report found the most common age at death has also changed substantially – in the 1960s to mid-1970s it was infants younger than one year old, but in 2023, most deaths occur at older ages.
 
However, the changes have not been as pronounced at the other end of the scale, with the maximum age of death remaining relatively stable and only a few Australians living past the age of 110.
 
Professor Morgan said GPs need to be given the skills and tools to adapt to this higher proportion of elderly patients within a health landscape where multimorbidity is the norm.
 
‘A critical concern for general practice is the impact of disadvantage. Hidden within statistics for the whole population are the people who are missing out on optimal health,’ he said.
 
‘Some of the most impactful work of GPs includes immunisations, smoking cessation, cancer screening and cardiovascular prevention.
 
‘GPs, and representative organisations such as the RACGP, should be rightfully proud of the part the primary healthcare system plays in the longevity of our patients.’
 
Australia has one of the highest life expectancies in the world, ranking fifth among 38 other Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) countries.
 
Japan was on top of the list, followed by Switzerland, Korea and Spain.
 
AIHW spokesperson Richard Juckes said despite this new research, there is no way of predicting how long Australians can expect to live in the future.
 
‘The increased life expectancy in Australia is largely attributed to improved medical knowledge and technology, healthcare availability, such as the widespread accessibility to antibiotics and vaccines, improved living conditions and overall better quality of life,’ Mr Juckes said.
 
‘While there is no clear answer to the question, “How long can Australians live?”, we all know that average life expectancy keeps on increasing.’
 
And as the population continues to age, Professor Morgan said there are practical changes which can be made to improve the quality of life of older Australians.
 
‘I strongly believe there are gains to be made by careful attention to preventive activities at all stages of life, tailored to the individual,’ he said.
 
‘I would like to see a rebate for an annual preventive-focused consultation, much like the over-75-year-old health assessments and the one-off 45–49-year-old health assessment.’
 
The AIHW found the oldest living person in Australia was believed to have died in 2002, aged 114.
 
The leading cause of death for Australian males is currently coronary heart disease, while dementia, including Alzheimer’s disease, is the leading cause of death for females.
 
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ageing population AIHW Australian Institute of Health and Welfare