Black-white disparities in disability among older americans: Further untangling the role of race and socioeconomic status

Journal of Aging and Health

Volumn 21, Issue 5, 2009, Pages 677-698

  Fuller Thomson, Esme ^a,d   Nuru Jeter, A ^b   Minkler, Meredith ^b   Guralnik, Jack M ^c  

^a UNIVERSITY OF TORONTO   (Canada)

^b UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA   (United States)

^c NATIONAL INSTITUTE ON AGING   (United States)

^d UNIVERSITY OF TORONTO   (Canada)

Author keywords

Activities of daily living; African Americans; Ethnicity; Functional limitations; Health inequalities

Indexed keywords

ADULT; AFRICAN AMERICAN; AGED; AGING; ARTICLE; DAILY LIFE ACTIVITY; DISABILITY; EDUCATION; EUROPEAN AMERICAN; FEMALE; GROUPS BY AGE; HEALTH SURVEY; HUMAN; INCOME; LOGISTIC REGRESSION ANALYSIS; MALE; RACE DIFFERENCE; SEX DIFFERENCE; SOCIOECONOMICS; CAUCASIAN; DISABLED PERSON; EDUCATIONAL STATUS; MIDDLE AGED; POVERTY; UNITED STATES;

ACTIVITIES OF DAILY LIVING; AFRICAN AMERICANS; AGED; DISABLED PERSONS; EDUCATIONAL STATUS; EUROPEAN CONTINENTAL ANCESTRY GROUP; FEMALE; HUMANS; MALE; MIDDLE AGED; POVERTY; SOCIOECONOMIC FACTORS; UNITED STATES;

EID: 67849133244     PISSN: 08982643     EISSN: 15526887     Source Type: Journal    
DOI: 10.1177/0898264309338296     Document Type: Article

References (81)

1. Alley, D.E., & Chang, V.W. (2007). The changing relationship of obesity and disability, 1988-2004. Journal of the American Medical Association, 298, 2020-2027.
2. Andresen, E.M., & Brownson, R.C. (2000). Disability and health status: Ethnic differences among women in the United States. Journal of Epidemiology & Community Health, 54, 200-206.
3. Beckett, M. (2000). Converging health inequalities in later life-An artifact of mortality selection ? Journal of Health of Social Behavior, 41 (2). 106-119.
4. Braveman, P.A., Cubbin, C., Egerter, S., Chideya, S., Marchi, K.S., Metzler, M., et al. (2005). Socioeconomic status in health research: One size does not fit all. Journal of the American Medical Association, 294, 2879-2888.
5. Breeze, E., Fletcher, A.E., Leon, D.A., Marmot, M.G., Clarke, R.J., & Shipley, M.J. (2001). Do socioeconomic disadvantages persist into old age? Self-reported morbidity in a 29-year follow-up of the Whitehall study. American Journal of Public Health, 91, 277-283.
6. Bulatao, R.A., & Anderson, N.B. (2004). Understanding race and ethnic differences in later life: A research agenda. Washington, DC: National Academies Press.
7. Burchard, E.G., Ziv, E., Coyle, N., & Gomez, S.L. (2003). The importance of race and ethnic background in biomedical research and clinical practice. New England Journal of Medicine, 348, 1170-1175.
8. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. (2008). National Nursing Home Survey: Nursing home current residents-Demographics. Retrieved October 1, 2008, from http://www.cdc.gov/nchs/data/nnhsd/Estimates/nnhs/Estimates-Demographics- Tables.pdf#Table01I
9. Cesari, M., Penninx, B., Pahor, M., Lauretani, F., Corsi, A.M., Williams, R., et al. (2004). Inflammatory markers and physical performance in older persons: The InCHIANTI Study. Journals of Gerontology, Series A: Biological Sciences and Medical Sciences, 59, M242 - M248.
10. Chay, K.Y. (1998). The impact of federal civil rights policy on Black economic progress: Evidence from the Equal Employment Opportunity Act of 1972. Industrial and Labor Relations Review, 51, 608-632.
11. Clark, D.O., & Maddox, G.L. (1992). Racial and social correlates of age-related changes in functioning. Journals of Gerontology: Social Sciences, 47, S222 - S232.
12. Collins, W.J. (2003). The labor market impact of state-level anti-discrimination laws, 1940-1960. Industrial and Labor Relations Review, 56, 244-272.
13. Cress, M.E., Schechtman, K.B., Mulrow, C.D., Flatarone, M.A., Gerety, M.B., & Buchner, D.M. (1995). Relationship between physical performance and self-perceived physical function. Journal of the American Geriatrics Society, 43, 93-101.
14. Crimmins, E.M., & Saito, Y. (2001). Trends in healthy life expectancy in the United States, 1970-1990: Gender, racial, and educational differences. Social Science & Medicine, 52, 1629-1641.
15. Dalaker, J. (2005). Alternative poverty estimates in the United States: 2003. Washington, DC: U.S. Government Printing Office.
16. Department of Health and Human Services. (2000). Healthy people 2010: Understanding and improving health. Washington, DC: Author.
17. Eichner, J., & Vladeck, B.C. (2005). Medicare as a catalyst for reducing health disparities. Health Affairs, 24, 365-375.
18. Ferraro, K.F., & Farmer, M.M. (1996). Double jeopardy to health hypothesis for African Americans: Analysis and critique. Journal of Health and Social Behavior, 37 (1). 27-43.
19. Ferraro, K.F., Farmer, M.M., & Wybraniec, J.A. (1997). Health trajectories: Long-term dynamics among Black and White adults. Journal of Health and Social Behavior, 38 (1). 38-54.
20. Field, M.J., & Jette, A.M. (2007). The future of disability in America: Institute of Medicine report. Washington, DC: National Academy Press.
21. Gallo, J.J., Anthony, J.C., & Muthen, B.O. (1994). Age differences in the symptoms of depression: A latent trait analysis. Journals of Gerontology: Psychological Sciences, 49, P 251 - P264.
22. Geiger, H.J. (2006). Health disparities: What do we know? What do we need to know? What should we know? In A. J. Schultz & L. Mullings (Eds.), Gender, race, class and health (pp. 261-288). San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.
23. Geronimus, A.T. (2000). To mitigate, resist, or undo: Addressing structural influences on the health of urban populations. American Journal of Public Health, 90, 867-872.
24. Geronimus, A.T. (2002). Black-White differences in the relationship of maternal age to birth-weight: A population based test of the weathering hypothesis. In T. A. LaVeist (Ed.), Race, ethnicity and health: A public health reader (pp. 213-230). San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.
25. Geronimus, A.T., Hicken, M., Keene, D., & Bound, J. (2006). " Weathering" and age patterns of allostatic load scores among Blacks and Whites in the United States. American Journal of Public Health, 96, 826-833.
26. Guralnik, J.M., Land, K.C., Blazer, D., Fillenbaum, G.G., & Branch, L.G. (1993). Educational status and active life expectancy among older Blacks and Whites. New England Journal of Medicine, 329 (2). 110-116.
27. Guralnik, J.M., Butterworth, S., Wadsworth, M.E.J., & Kuh, D. (2006). Childhood socioeconomic status predicts physical functioning a half century later. Journals of Gerontology, Series A: Biological Sciences and Medical Sciences, 61, 694-701.
28. Hayward, M.D., Miles, T.P., Crimmins, E.M., & Yang, Y. (2000). The significance of socioeconomic status in explaining the racial gap in chronic health conditions. American Sociological Review, 65, 910-930.
29. Herd, P. (2006). Do functional health inequalities decrease in old age? Educational status and functional decline among the 1931-1941 birth cohort. Research on Aging, 28, 375-392.
30. Herd, P., Goesling, B., & House, J. (2007). Explaining educational and income disparities in health: The importance of disease onset versus decline. Journal of Health and Social Behavior, 48, 223-238.
31. Herd, P., Schoeni, R., & House, J. (2008). Fundamental causes: Does supplemental security income (SSI) affect disability among the elderly ? Milbank Quarterly, 86 (1). 5-45.
32. Hilber, C.A.L., & Liu, Y. (2008). Explaining the Black-White homeownership gap: The role of own wealth, parental externalities and locational preferences. Journal of Housing Economics, 17, 152-174.
33. House, J.S. (2002). Understanding social factors and inequalities in health: 20th century progress and 21st century prospects. Journal of Health and Social Behavior, 43 (2). 125-142.
34. House, J.S., Kessler, R.C., Herzog, A.R., Mero, R., Kinney, A.M., & Breslow, M. (1990). Age, socioeconomic status, and health. Milbank Quarterly, 68, 383-411.
35. Hummer, R., Benjamins, M., & Rogers, R. (2004). Race/ethnic disparities in health and mortality among the elderly: A documentation and examination of social factors. In N. Anderson, B. Bulatao, & B. Cohen (Eds.), Critical perspectives on racial and ethnic differences in health in later life (pp. 53-94). Washington, DC: National Research Council.
36. Institute of Medicine. (2002). Unequal treatment: Confronting racial and ethnic disparities in health care. Washington, DC: National Academy Press.
37. Isaacs, S.L., & Schroeder, S.A. (2004). Class-The ignored determinant of the nation's health. New England Journal of Medicine, 351, 1137-1142.
38. Jette, A.M. (1996). Disability trends and transitions. In R. H. Binstock & L. K. George (Eds.), Handbook of aging and the social sciences (pp. 94-116). San Diego, CA: Academic Press.
39. Kelley-Moore, J.A., & Ferraro, K.F. (2004). The Black/White disability gap: Persistent inequality in later life ? Journals of Gerontology, Series B: Psychological Sciences and Social Sciences, 59B (1). S34 - S43.
40. Kempen, G.I.J.M., Steverink, N., Ormel, J., & Deeg, D.J.H. (1996). The assessment of ADL among frail elderly in an interview survey: Self-report versus performance-based tests and determinants of discrepancies. Journals of Gerontology, Series B: Psychological Sciences and Social Sciences, 51B, P 254 - P260.
41. Kington, R.S., & Smith, J.P. (1997). Socioeconomic status and racial and ethnic differences in functional status associated with chronic diseases. American Journal of Public Health, 87, 805-810.
42. Lantz, P.M., Lynch, J.W., House, J.S., Lepkowski, J.M., Mero, R.P., Musick, M.A., et al. (2001). Socioeconomic disparities in health change in a longitudinal study of US adults: The role of health-risk behaviors. Social Science and Medicine, 53 (1). 29-40.
43. LaVeist, T.A. (2005). Minority populations and health: An introduction to health disparities in the United States. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.
44. Lee, R.D., Ensminger, M.E., & LaVeist, T.A. (2005). The responsibility continuum: Never primary, coresident and caregiver heterogeneity in the African American grandmother experience. International Journal of Aging and Human Development, 60, 295-304.
45. Li, L.W., & Fries, B.E. (2005). Elder disability as an explanation for racial differences in informal home care. The Gerontologist, 45, 206-215.
46. Liao, Y., McGee, D.L., Cao, G., & Cooper, R.S. (1999). Black-White differences in disability and morbidity in the last years of life. American Journal of Epidemiology, 149, 1097-1103. (Pubitemid 29270322)
47. Macintyre, S., Hunt, K., & Sweeting, H. (1996). Gender differences in health: Are things really as simple as they seem ? Social Science & Medicine, 42, 617-624.
48. Manton, K.G., & Gu, X.L. (2001). Changes in the prevalence of chronic disability in the United States Black and non-Black population above age 65 from 1982 to 1999. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 98, 6354-6359.
49. McEwen, B.S. (1998). Stress, adaptation, and disease: Allostatis and allostatic load. Annals of New York Academy of Sciences, 840, 33-44.
50. Meara, E.R., Richards, S., & Cutler, D.M. (2008). The gap gets bigger: Changes in mortality and life expectancy, by education, 1981-2000. Health Affairs, 27, 350-360.
51. Melzer, D., Izmirlian, G., Leveille, S.G., & Guralnik, J.M. (2001). Educational differences in the prevalence of mobility disability in old age: The dynamics of incidence, mortality, and recovery. Journals of Gerontology, Series B: Psychological Sciences and Social Sciences, 56B, S294 - S301.
52. Mendes de Leon, C.F., Barnes, L.L., Bienias, J.L., Skarupski, K.A., & Evans, D.A. (2005). Racial disparities in disability: Recent evidence from self-reported and performance-based disability measures in a population-based study of older adults. Journals of Gerontology, Series B: Psychological Sciences and Social Sciences, 60B, S263 - S271.
53. Mendes de Leon, C.F., Beckett, L.A., Fillenbaum, G.G., Brock, D.B., Branch, L.G., Evans, D.A., et al. (1997). Black-White differences in risk of becoming disabled and recovering from disability in old age: A longitudinal analysis of two EPESE populations. American Journal of Epidemiology, 145, 488-497.
54. Minkler, M., Fuller-Thomson, E., & Guralnik, J.M. (2006). Gradient of disability across the socioeconomic spectrum in the United States. New England Journal of Medicine, 355, 695-703.
55. Minkler, M., Fuller-Thomson, E., Miller, D., & Driver, D. (1997). Depression in grandparents raising grandchildren: Results of a national longitudinal study. Archives of Family Medicine, 6, 445-452.
56. Moody-Ayers, S.Y., Mehta, K.M., Lindquist, K., Sands, L., & Covinsky, K.E. (2005). Black-White disparities in functional decline in older persons: The role of cognitive function. Journals of Gerontology, Series A: Biological Sciences and Medical Sciences, 60, 933-939.
57. Nagelkerke, N.J.D. (1991). A note on a general definition of the coefficient of determination. Biometrika, 78, 691-692.
58. Navarro, V. (1989). Race or class, or race and class. International Journal of Health Services, 19, 311-314.
59. Nuru-Jeter, A., Dominguez, T.P., Hammond, W.P., Leu, J., Skaff, M., Egerter, S., et al. (2009). "It's the skin you're in": African-American women talk about their experiences of racism. An exploratory study to develop measures of racism for birth outcome studies. Maternal and Child Health Journal, 13 (1). 29-39.
60. Nuru-Jeter, A., Williams, C.T., & LaVeist, T.A. (2008). A methodological note on modeling the effects of race: The case of psychological distress. Stress and Health, 24, 337-350.
61. Ostchega, Y., Harris, T.B., Hirsch, R., Parsons, V.L., & Kington, R. (2000). The prevalence of functional limitations and disability in older persons in the US: Data from the National Health and Nutrition Examination survey III. Journal of the American Geriatrics Society, 48, 1132-1135.
62. Pandya, S. (2005). Caregiving in the United States. Washington, DC: AARP Public Policy Institute.
63. Paul, C., Ayis, S., & Ebrahim, D.M. (2007). Disability and psychosocial outcomes in old age. Aging and Health, 19, 723-741.
64. Sager, M.A., Dunham, N.C., Schwantes, A., Mecum, L., Halverson, K., & Harlowe, D. (1992). Measurement of activities of daily living in hospitalized elderly: A comparison of self-report and performance-based methods. Journal of the American Geriatrics Society, 40, 457-462.
65. Schoeni, R.F., Martin, L.G., Andreski, P.M., & Freedman, V.A. (2005). Persistent and growing socioeconomic disparities in disability among the elderly: 1982-2002. American Journal of Public Health, 95, 2065-2070.
66. Smedley, B.D., Stith, A.Y., & Nelson, A.R. (2003). Unequal treatment: Confronting racial and ethnic disparities in health care. Washington, DC: National Academy Press.
67. Strum, R., Ringel, J.S., & Andreyeva, T. (2004). Increasing obesity rates and disability trends. Health Affairs, 23, 199-205.
68. Taaffe, D.R., Harris, T.B., Ferrucci, L., Rowe, J., & Seeman, T.E. (2000). Cross-sectional and prospective relationships of interleukin-6 and C-reactive protein with physical performance in elderly persons: MacArthur studies of successful aging. Journals of Gerontology, Series A: Biological Sciences and Medical Sciences, 55, M709 - M715.
69. Tennstedt, S., & Chang, B.H. (1998). The relative contribution of ethnicity versus socioeconomic status in explaining differences in disability and receipt of informal care. Journals of Gerontology, Series B: Psychological Sciences and Social Sciences, 53B, S61 - S70.
70. Trupin, L., Rice, D.P., & Max, W. (1996). Medical expenditures for people with disabilities in the United States, 1987. Washington, DC: Department of Education, National Institute on Disability and Rehabilitation Research.
71. U.S. Census Bureau. (2002). Current population survey: Design and methodology (No. 63RV) Retrieved May 16, 2009, from http://www.census.gov/prod/ 2002pubs/tp63rv.pdf
72. U.S. Census Bureau. (2005 a). American community survey: Survey basics. Retrieved January 19, 2007, from http://www.census.gov/acs/www./SBasics/index. htm
73. U.S. Census Bureau. (2005 b). American community survey: Quality measures: Response rates: Data. Retrieved January 19, 2007, from http://www.census.gov/acs/www./acs-php/quality-measures-response-2005.php
74. U.S. Census Bureau. (2005 c). American community survey: Quality measure: Item allocation rates. Retrieved January 19, 2007, from http://www.census.gov/ acs/www./acs-php/quality-measures-alloc-2005.php
75. U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, National Center for Health Statistics. (2004). National nursing home survey: Number and rates of current residents by selected characteristics. Hyattsville, MD: National Center for Health Statistics.
76. U.S. General Accounting Office. (2001). Medigap insurance: Plans are widely available but have limited benefits and may have high costs (Rep. GAO-01-941; 7/31/2001, p1.). Retrieved May 23, 2009, from http://www.gao.gov/ new.items/d01941.pdf
77. Verbrugge, L., & Jette, A.M. (1994). The disablement process. Social Science & Medicine, 38, 1-14.
78. Volpato, S., Blaum, C., Resnick, H., Ferrucci, L., Fried, L.P., & Guralnik, J.M. (2002). Comorbidities and impairments explaining the association between diabetes and lower extremity disability: The women's health and aging study. Diabetes Care, 25, 678-683.
79. Williams, D., Neighbors, H.W., & Jackson, J.J. (2003). Racial/ethnic discrimination and health: Findings from community studies. American Journal of Public Health, 93, 200-208.
80. World Health Organization. (2001). International classification of functioning, disability and health. Geneva, Switzerland: Author.
81. Zimmer, Z., & House, J. (2003). Education, income and functional limitation transitions. International Journal of Epidemiology, 32, 1089-1097.