US trends in disability and institutionalization among older Blacks and Whites.
OBJECTIVE
This study estimated and compared the prevalence of disability and institutionalization in 1982, 1984, and 1989 among the older Black and White populations of the United States.


METHODS
Data on over 1100 Blacks and 14,000 Whites in each of a series of three National Long Term Care Surveys were used.


RESULTS
Diverging trends for Blacks and Whites led to statistically significant increases in the age- and sex-adjusted odds of disability (19%) and institutionalization (31%) for Blacks relative to Whites.


CONCLUSIONS
Black and White disparities in disability appear to have widened, while disparities in institutionalization appear to have narrowed during the decade of the 1980s.
Clark
D O
DO
Department of Medicine, Indiana University School of Medicine, Regenstrief Institute 46202-2859, USA.
D000203:Activities of Daily Living; D001741:Black or African American / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D000368:Aged; D006233:Persons with Disabilities / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D005260:Female; D016330:Frail Elderly / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D019538:Health Care Surveys; D006801:Humans; D007326:Institutionalization / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D008134:Long-Term Care; D008297:Male; D016017:Odds Ratio; D015995:Prevalence; D014481:United States / Q000453:epidemiology; D044465:White People / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*