|
 Older white Americans - those over 65 - can expect to spend about
three quarters of their remaining years without needing much help.
Older blacks, however, are likely to be disability-free for only
about two-thirds of their remaining years.
"It’s important to understand these trends in longevity and
disability, because we have my generation entering retirement ages
and that’s going to put a lot of strain on resources in retirement
care," said study author Brenda Spillman, a senior fellow at the
Health Policy Center at The Urban Institute in Washington, D.C.
Spillman and her coauthor Vicki Freedman, of the Institute for
Social Research at the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor, analyzed
data collected between 1982 and 2004 for the National Long Term Care
Surveys, and data collected in 2011 for the National Health and
Aging Trends Study.
They found that between 1982 and 2011, life expectancy beyond age 65
years improved for white and black Americans. They also found that
the prevalence of disabilities declined for both white and black
Americans after 1982 but then began to rise again.
However, they report in Health Affairs, compared to whites, blacks
had smaller postponements in disability as they aged, "and the
percentage of remaining life spent active remained stable and well
below that of whites."
During the study, disabilities among whites fell in each of the 15
activities measured, such as getting in and out of bed, going
outside, dressing, doing laundry and taking medicine. Blacks, by
comparison, had declines in only six of those measures.
Overall, the life expectancy of white Americans without disability
increased by 2.8 years over the study period, compared to 2.2 years
among black Americans.
Spillman said white Americans can expect to live about 15 years out
of their 20 remaining years of expectant life disability free,
compared to about 12 years out of 18 years among black Americans.
[to top of second column] |
"There is some good news that whites and blacks are living longer
than they did, but the new information is that the gaps between
whites and blacks in disability free years has persisted," she told
Reuters Health.
The researchers also found that the percentage of white Americans
spending their later years in nursing facilities declined from about
7 percent in 1982 to about 3 percent in 2011. However, the
proportion of black Americans in nursing facilities over the study
period remained steady over the study period at about 4.5 percent.
The new study can't say why these disparities between white and
black Americans persist, however.
"We really need to understand more about the root causes of this
late life experience," said Spillman.
SOURCE: http://bit.ly/2aJAcoA Health Affairs, online August 9, 2016.
[© 2016 Thomson Reuters. All rights
reserved.] Copyright 2016 Reuters. All rights reserved. This material may not be published,
broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
 |
