"To develop a calculation method for healthy life expectancy which would be suitable for China we analyzed the healthy life expectancy of urban residents in China, employing data on residents' deaths and data available from the 1993 national survey for health services and family health conditions.... Results of the study show that the ratio of healthy life expectancy to life expectancy decreases with the increase of the residents' age; healthy life expectancy for females is higher than that for males; [and] healthy life expectancy for residents of large cities is lower than that for residents of medium and small cities."