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Age, Race and Gender Factors in Incident Disability.

TitleAge, Race and Gender Factors in Incident Disability.
Publication TypeJournal Article
Year of Publication2017
AuthorsJacob, ME, Marron, MM, Boudreau, R, Odden, MC, Arnold, AM, Newman, AB
JournalJ Gerontol A Biol Sci Med Sci
Date Published2017 Oct 13
ISSN1758-535X
Abstract<p><b>Background: </b>Incident disability rates enable the comparison of risk across populations. Understanding these by age, sex and race is important for planning for the care of older adults and targeting prevention.</p><p><b>Methods: </b>We calculated incident disability rates among older adults in the Cardiovascular Health Study, a study of 5,888 older adults aged ≥ 65 years over 6 years of follow-up. Disability was defined in 2 ways: 1) self-report of disability (severe difficulty or inability) in any of 6 ADLs, and 2) mobility difficulty (any difficulty walking half a mile or climbing 10 steps). Incident disability rates were calculated as events per 100 person years for age, gender and race groups.</p><p><b>Results: </b>The incidence of ADL disability, and mobility difficulty were 2.7 (2.5-2.8), and 9.8 (9.4 -10.3) events per 100 person years. Women, older participants and blacks had higher rates in both domains.</p><p><b>Conclusion: </b>Incidence rates are considerably different based on the domain examined as well as age, race and gender composition of the population. Prevention efforts should focus on high risk populations and attempt to ameliorate factors that increase risk in these groups.</p>
DOI10.1093/gerona/glx194
Alternate JournalJ. Gerontol. A Biol. Sci. Med. Sci.
PubMed ID29045556
ePub date: 
17/10