Description: Recent reviews of national health trends show conflicting results. It is clear today that the various health dimensions follow different trends over time. For instance, an expansion of morbidity may accompany a compression of disability. What do we measure when we observe a decline in disability? Is the elderly population intrinsically healthier or are individuals more independent and less helped by children, using more technical devices in a more favorable environment?

Description: A recent study sheds light on the measurement and implications of the relationship between increased morbidity and declining disability. The results were not consistent across all populations. This study of the compression of morbidity is part of a wider project called the M-project, led by the four authors, which aims to explore the demographic factors leading to an increase in the adult longevity, investigate the phenomenon called the compression of mortality and develop a new methodological approach to longevity analysis with focus on the modal age at death M.