A Comparision of Factors Related to Life Expectancy in 20-60 Year old Residents of Isfahan

The purpose of this study was to compare factors related to life expectancy in 20-60 year old residents of Isfahan. Therefore two samples were randomly selected. the first sample consisted of 350 registered official deaths of individuals during the year 2003. The second sample consisted of 135 residents from three regions of Isfahan. The three regions were randomly selected from 11 regions of the city. the information about the following variables in the first sample was gathered: date of birth and death, gender and cause of death. A questionnaire called factors related to life expectancy questionnaire (FRLEQ) was constructed based on the information obtained from various sectors in the literature. This questionnaire and a demographic questionnaire containing information about the gender, age, height, weight, marital status, number of family members and children, education, and income were administered to the second sample. The FRLEQ items were factors analyzed and the following sub-scales were identified: cigarette avoidance, exercise, general characteristics, medical care, psychological condition and nutrition pattern. It was hypothesized that there would be signinficant diffrencess between age and gender groups. the results of analysis of covariance showed that the difference between the mean total scores of life-related factors of age groups was not significant. However, with regard to sub-scales 30-34 and 55-59 year-old people avoided smoking significantly less than three other age groups (p= 0.02). Also, 40 year-old people and older had significantly less tendency to do exercise than younger individuals (p= 0.05).The psychological characteristics were significantly higher in the following age groups: 20-24, 30-34 and 50-54 years old (p= 0.001). The general characteristics were significantly higher in the following age groups: 20-24, 55-59 and over 60 (p= 0.03). The percentage of risk factors leading to death was significantly higher for 20-24 and 60 year-olds (p= 0.001). The differences between the age groups with regard to medical care and nutrition pattern were not significant. However, the percentage of death risk in 20-24-year olds was higher in men and in 60-year olds was higher in women (p= 0.003).