Trends In The Health Of Older Americans, USA

Main Category: Seniors / Aging
Article Date: 12 Sep 2007 - 19:00 PDT

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Bringing together data from many federal sources, Kramarow and coauthors show that in recent decades, the health of older Americans has improved on nearly all major indicators, including longevity, self-reported health, and functioning. For example, life expectancy at ages 65 and 85 increased from 13.8 and 4.7 years, respectively, in 1950 to 18.7 and 6.8 years, respectively, in 2004. The proportion of older people reporting fair or poor health declined between 1982 and 2005 from 34.8 percent to 27.3 percent for women and from 35.5 percent to 26.1 percent for men. Reported health status has improved even for those with chronic conditions, but it is unclear whether this reflects improved functioning, reduced expectations, or earlier diagnosis of conditions in milder stages. http://content.healthaffairs.org/cgi/content/abstract/26/5/1417

"Although we can not link improved functioning at the population level directly to particular medical interventions, our data show large increases in interventions that are designed to enable older people to maintain or regain functioning, and improve quality of life," the authors say. They point in particular to the cardiac revascularization procedures of angioplasty and bypass surgery and to the replacement of joints such as the hip and knee. For example, between 1995 and 2004 alone, the rate of angioplasty almost tripled, with the largest percentage increases occurring among people age 85 and older.

The authors say that new medical technologies may lead to a continuation of these favorable trends, but they offer some cautions. Among them: African Americans continue to lag behind other groups on most health measures; we still know little about whether the cognitive functioning of elderly Americans is improving; and today's middle-aged Americans -- tomorrow's elderly -- report higher levels of obesity and certain chronic conditions than the preceding generation.

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