Educational Status and Active Life Expectancy among Older Blacks and Whites

TLDR

Persons of low socioeconomic status are known to have reduced life expectancy. The study examined how socioeconomic status relates to disability‑free or active life expectancy among older adults, analyzing prospectively collected data from 2219 blacks and 1838 whites aged 65 and older in the Piedmont region of North Carolina. Disability was defined as inability to perform basic activities, and statistical models estimated yearly transition probabilities among disabled, non‑disabled, and death for subgroups by sex, race, and education, which were then incorporated into life tables to compute total, active, and disabled life expectancy.

Abstract

Persons of low socioeconomic status are known to have reduced life expectancy. In a study of the relation of socioeconomic status to disability-free or active life expectancy among older persons, we analyzed prospectively gathered data on 2219 blacks and 1838 whites who were 65 years of age or older in the Piedmont region of North Carolina. We defined disability as the inability to perform independently one or more basic functional activities such as walking, bathing, dressing, eating, and using the toilet. For subgroups defined by sex, race, and education, statistical models were used to estimate, for persons at each year of age, the probability of transition from not being disabled or being disabled at base line to not being disabled, being disabled, or having died one year later. These transition probabilities were then entered into increment-decrement life tables to generate estimates of total, active, and disabled life expectancy (with total life expectancy equal to active life expectancy plus disabled life expectancy).