Span of healthy life is defined as which of the following?

• A. A measure of current life expectancy regardless of health.
• B. A ratio of healthy years to total years.
• C. A measure of health status that combines life expectancy with self-reported health status and functional disabilities to calculate the number of years an individual is likely to function normally.
• D. The number of years a person will live in perfect health.

Answer: (D)

Span of healthy life measures the number of years a person is expected to live in a state of good health. It goes beyond sheer longevity by focusing on health quality across life years. Among the options, the statement that identifies this span as the number of years lived in perfect health best captures the idea of counting healthy years rather than just total years or a ratio. The other descriptions either ignore health status (just life expectancy), express a proportion rather than a count, or describe a method that combines health and disability without defining a specific number of pristine-health years.