Assessing the health of individuals and populations in surveys of the elderly: some concepts and approaches.
Most health survey research in devoted to assessing the health of individuals in a defined population. Various measures include the prevalence and incidence of diseases, signs and symptoms, functional states, and use of health services. However, assessing individual biologic robustness can be problematic, and some suggestions for testable approaches are offered. Additionally, there are characteristics of the health of populations or communities, not referent to individual constituents, that have been underutilized. These include measures of the physical, social, and health service environment.
Wallace
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RB
College of Medicine, University of Iowa, Iowa City 52242.
D000203:Activities of Daily Living; D000368:Aged; D004812:Epidemiologic Methods; D015577:Geriatric Assessment; D015438:Health Behavior; D006305:Health Status Indicators; D006801:Humans; D011788:Quality of Life; D014481:United States