Physiological Age, Health Costs, and Their Interrelation

ABSTRACT

We demonstrate the impact of an observable health-related quantity on the evaluation of individual physiological ages by extending the phase-type aging model proposed by Lin and Liu in 2007. In their model, an individual of a given calendar age has a determinable distribution of his or her physiological age. In our article, we use observable information to refine this distribution, thereby better connecting physiological age with the health of the individual. We illustrate our model using health cost data, and we investigate the impact of an observed health cost on the distribution of an individual’s physiological age. We also explore the impact on the expected present value of future health costs.

Acknowledgments

We are grateful to the two anonymous referees whose comments have improved both the content and the form of this work.

Additional information

Funding

The work of all authors has been assisted by the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada Discovery Grants of Drs. Jones, Liu, and Stanford. We also acknowledge the financial support of the Fields Institute for Dr. Govorun’s postdoctoral fellowship.