Abstract:

The data set from the U.S. Dept of Health & Human Services 1986 Longitudinal Study of Aging that reinterviewed 5,151 persons who were age 70+ when interviewed for the 1984 Supplement on Aging, National Health Interview Survey, were submitted to logit analysis to determine the effect of sociodemographic factors on the prevalence of disability & the transitions between able & disabled status among the U.S. elderly population. Findings confirm that older respondents are more likely to be, or become, disabled, & less likely to recover from their disabilities, & that more highly educated elderly have less disability with greater chance of recovery. Anomalies found among subpopulations of race & sex variables included that among the poor, black females were less likely to become disabled, & relations between marital status & disability varied by sex. The study suggests that knowledge of how gender, income, education, & marital status correlate with disability enables informed planning, policy formulation, & allocation of future resource for care of the elderly.