The study looked at the period 2007-2017 and concluded that men who retire at 65 can still expect to live 16.2 years without disability or infirmity. For women the figure is 16 years.
The gains in life expectancy with good health outweighed overall gains in general life expectancy, which increased by 1.3 years for men and 0.6 years for women over the same period, the Swiss Medical Weekly journal wrote on Tuesday.
Overall, men aged 65 can still expect to live 19.7 years, while women can expect 22.1 years.
Thus while women live longer than men overall, they are also on average in poor health for longer, a fact which the authors said mirrored the results of other studies previously done across the world.
As for the consequences of the Covid-19 pandemic, its impact on general life expectancy was temporary, they said. “However, the impact on life expectancy without disability could be stronger, not only because of the functional decline of those infected, but also as a result of the lockdown, during which older people were less physically and socially active and thus accumulated risk factors for disability,” the authors wrote.
They said however it was difficult to predict whether this trend would continue in the future, or whether some sort of stability will be reached.
For the study, the researchers analysed data from the Swiss Health Survey of the Federal Statistical Office (FSO) on the age- and gender-specific prevalence of mild and severe disability.
More
More
Thousands of retired Swiss seniors falling into poverty
This content was published on
While most senior citizens in Switzerland can comfortably make ends meet, one in five is living either below or close to the poverty line.
Heavy snowfall in Switzerland causes traffic chaos and accidents
This content was published on
The heavy snowfall late on Thursday and during the night into Friday led to traffic chaos and many accidents in many regions of Switzerland.
Chimpanzee behaviours passed down through generations
This content was published on
Some of the complex behaviours of chimpanzees have been passed down and refined over generations. These include the combination of several tools for foraging.
More than 600,000 rounds of Swiss sniper ammunition reach Ukraine
This content was published on
Sniper ammunition from Swiss P Defence reached Ukraine via a Polish company in July 2023, reported SRF Investigativ on Thursday, citing official information.
Environment minister outlines Swiss efforts to limit global warming
This content was published on
Switzerland will do its part to achieve the goal of limiting global warming to 1.5 degrees Celcius, said Environment Minister Albert Rösti, who's attending COP29 in Baku.
This content was published on
Switzerland remains by a large margin the European champion of train travel, both in terms of the number of journeys per person and the number of kilometres travelled. Switzerland remains by a large margin the European champion of train travel, both in terms of the number of journeys per person and the number of kilometres travelled. Switzerland remains by a large margin the European champion of train travel, both in terms of the number of journeys per person and the number of kilometres travelled.
Assisted suicide: Sarco inventor defends himself against killing rumours
This content was published on
Sarco inventor Philip Nitschke has defended himself against rumours that one of his colleagues assisted in the suicide of a woman in Schaffhausen, northern Switzerland.
Too much attention paid to queer people, says Swiss survey
This content was published on
Most Swiss are well disposed towards LGBTQ people, according to a study. However, prejudice and intolerance persist in certain sectors of society, particularly towards transgender and intersex people.
This content was published on
The latest federal health survey of people 55 and older reveals that social factors such as education influence health into old age.
You can find an overview of ongoing debates with our journalists here . Please join us!
If you want to start a conversation about a topic raised in this article or want to report factual errors, email us at english@swissinfo.ch.