title: Black-white differences in self-reported disability outcomes in the U.S.: early childhood to older adulthood.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  We examined black-white differences in activities of daily living (ADLs), functional limitations (FLs), vision/hearing/sensory impairment, and memory/learning problems in a large, nationally representative sample of community-dwelling and institutionalized people across the lifespan.
  
  
  METHODS
  Data are from the 2006 American Community Survey (n=2,288,800). We included data on non-Hispanic black respondents (125,985 males and 145,780 females) and non-Hispanic white respondents (977,792 males and 1,039,243 females) ≥5 years of age. We used logistic regression to examine the black-white odds for each disability outcome. The overall response rate was 97.5%.
  
  
  RESULTS
  For FLs, ADL limitations, and memory/learning problems, black people experienced higher odds of disability across the adult lifespan compared with white people. Black-white differences narrowed in older age. For vision/hearing problems, a black-white crossover was found in older age (≥85 years), where odds of vision/hearing problems were lower among black people than among white people. For all disability outcomes, black-white differences peaked in midlife (50-69 years of age), with black people having approximately 1.5 to two times the odds of disabilities as their white peers.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The study findings suggest the need to address black-white disparities across a range of disability outcomes throughout the lifespan. Future work identifying the factors accounting for this pattern of disparities will help inform the development of appropriate prevention strategies.
authors: University of California, Berkeley, CA, USA. anjeter@berkeley.edu
authors: Amani M
authors: AM
authors: Nuru-Jeter
authors: Roland J
authors: RJ
authors: Thorpe
authors: Esme
authors: E
authors: Fuller-Thomson
mesh_terms: D000203:Activities of Daily Living; D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D001741:Black or African American / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D000367:Age Factors; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D006233:Persons with Disabilities / Q000145:classification / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D005260:Female; D054624:Health Status Disparities; D006311:Hearing Disorders / Q000208:ethnology; D006801:Humans; D007859:Learning Disabilities / Q000208:ethnology; D008297:Male; D008569:Memory Disorders / Q000208:ethnology; D008875:Middle Aged; D012737:Sex Factors; D014481:United States / Q000453:epidemiology; D014786:Vision Disorders / Q000208:ethnology; D044465:White People / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D055815:Young Adult