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- Title
Black-white differences in health-related quality of life among older adults.
- Authors
Skarupski, Kimberly A.; Mendes de Leon, Carlos F.; Bienias, Julia L.; Scherr, Paul A.; Zack, Matthew M.; Moriarty, David G.; Evans, Denis A.; de Leon, Carlos F Mendes
- Abstract
Very little information exists on racial differences in quality of life among older adults. In this paper, we examine black-white differences in health-related quality of life (HRQOL) and identify factors that may account for these differences. The participants were 5,986 community-dwelling persons age 65+ (62% black at baseline) from the Chicago Health and Aging Project. Poor HRQOL was defined as having 14 or more self-reported physically or mentally unhealthy days over the past 30 days. A higher proportion of blacks (11.0%) than whites (9.7%) reported poor HRQOL. After adjusting for age and sex, blacks had increased odds of reporting poor HRQOL compared with whites (odds ratio [OR] = 1.72; 95% CI: 1.50-1.98). The black-white differences in HRQOL tended to increase with age (p < 0.05) and were greater among females (p < 0.05). Lifetime socioeconomic status, summary measures of medical conditions, and cognitive function accounted for most of the black-white difference (OR = 1.06; 95% CI: 0.89-1.27). Our results suggest that racial differences in HRQOL are associated with the combined effects of social disadvantage, poor physical health, and lower cognitive function.
- Subjects
CHICAGO (Ill.); ILLINOIS; BLACK white differences; RACIAL differences; DISCRIMINATION in medical care; QUALITY of life; COGNITIVE ability
- Publication
Quality of Life Research, 2007, Vol 16, Issue 2, p287
- ISSN
0962-9343
- Publication type
journal article
- DOI
10.1007/s11136-006-9115-y