Educational disparities in the prevalence and consequence of physical vulnerability.
OBJECTIVE
The purpose of this study was to estimate educational differences in the prevalence and mortality consequence of physical vulnerability among older adults in the United States.


METHODS
Data came from the 1998 and 2000 waves of the Health and Retirement Study, a nationally representative cross-sectional and prospective cohort study of community-based adults aged 65 and older. We created a physical vulnerability score from age, gender, and self-reported disability measures and measured socioeconomic status via educational attainment. Mortality data came from the National Death Index.


RESULTS
In the 1998 cohort, high physical vulnerability was more than 3 times more prevalent in individuals with less than 12 years of education compared to those with 16 or more years of education. Although less educated older adults had a higher probability of death overall, evidence of educational differences in the mortality consequence of high physical vulnerability was limited. In 2000, 2.16 million older adults had high physical vulnerability, and more than one half (53%) of these adults had less than 12 years of education.


CONCLUSIONS
In persons 65 years of age or older, educational differences are more apparent in the prevalence of physical vulnerability than in the mortality consequence of that vulnerability.
Clark
Daniel O
DO
Indiana University Center for Aging Research, Indianapolis, USA. dclark@regenstrief.org
Stump
Timothy E
TE
Miller
Douglas K
DK
Long
J Scott
JS
D000203:Activities of Daily Living / Q000145:classification*; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D002908:Chronic Disease / Q000401:mortality*; D015331:Cohort Studies; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D004522:Educational Status; D005260:Female; D015577:Geriatric Assessment; D006306:Health Surveys; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D051346:Mobility Limitation; D012307:Risk Factors; D012959:Socioeconomic Factors; D016019:Survival Analysis; D014481:United States