TY - JOUR
T1 - Racial disparities in disability among older adults
T2 - Finding from the exploring health disparities in integrated communities study
AU - Thorpe, Roland J.
AU - McCleary, Rachael
AU - Smolen, Jenny R.
AU - Whitfield, Keith E.
AU - Simonsick, Eleanor M.
AU - LaVeist, Thomas
N1 - Funding Information:
The authors disclosed receipt of the following financial support for the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article: Research conducted by the first author was supported by a grant from the National Institute for Minority Health and Health Disparities (P60MD000214) and Pfizer, Inc.
Publisher Copyright:
© The Author(s) 2014.
PY - 2014/12/19
Y1 - 2014/12/19
N2 - Objective: Persistent and consistently observed racial disparities in physical functioning likely stem from racial differences in social resources and environmental conditions. Method: We examined the association between race and reported difficulty performing instrumental activities of daily living (IADL) in 347 African American (45.5%) and Whites aged 50 or above in the Exploring Health Disparities in Integrated Communities-Southwest Baltimore, Maryland Study (EHDIC-SWB). Results: Contrary to previous studies, African Americans had lower rates of disability (women: 25.6% vs. 44.6%, p = .006; men: 15.7% vs. 32.9%; p = .017) than Whites. After adjusting for sociodemographics, health behaviors, and comorbidities, African American women (odds ratio [OR] = 0.32, 95% confidence interval [CI] = [0.14, 0.70]) and African American men (OR = 0.34, 95% CI = [0.13, 0.90]) retained their functional advantage compared with White women and men, respectively. Conclusion: These findings within an integrated, low-income urban sample support efforts to ameliorate health disparities by focusing on the social context in which people live.
AB - Objective: Persistent and consistently observed racial disparities in physical functioning likely stem from racial differences in social resources and environmental conditions. Method: We examined the association between race and reported difficulty performing instrumental activities of daily living (IADL) in 347 African American (45.5%) and Whites aged 50 or above in the Exploring Health Disparities in Integrated Communities-Southwest Baltimore, Maryland Study (EHDIC-SWB). Results: Contrary to previous studies, African Americans had lower rates of disability (women: 25.6% vs. 44.6%, p = .006; men: 15.7% vs. 32.9%; p = .017) than Whites. After adjusting for sociodemographics, health behaviors, and comorbidities, African American women (odds ratio [OR] = 0.32, 95% confidence interval [CI] = [0.14, 0.70]) and African American men (OR = 0.34, 95% CI = [0.13, 0.90]) retained their functional advantage compared with White women and men, respectively. Conclusion: These findings within an integrated, low-income urban sample support efforts to ameliorate health disparities by focusing on the social context in which people live.
KW - African americans
KW - Disability
KW - EHDIC
KW - Older adults
KW - Racial disparities
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U2 - 10.1177/0898264314534892
DO - 10.1177/0898264314534892
M3 - Article
C2 - 25502241
AN - SCOPUS:84918768159
SN - 0898-2643
VL - 26
SP - 1261
EP - 1279
JO - Journal of Aging and Health
JF - Journal of Aging and Health
IS - 8
ER -