Ethnic Trajectories of Aging

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DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): Aging research has been increasingly focused on examining the intersections between aging and putative social factors involved in determining physical and mental health status. Much of the research is based on cross-sectional data. Furthermore, existing longitudinal analyses are mostly concerned with transitions between two points in time. This proposed research analyzes trajectories of health and health care, consisting of multiple transitions amongwhite, black and Latino older Americans. It has three specific aims. First, we are interested in how health status changes in old age for whites, blacks and Latinos. Second, this proposal will explore the changes in the use of medical care at older ages by ethnic group, specifically for blacks, whites and Latinos in the U.S. will be examined via these analyses. Third, this research will assess the extent to which changes in health status interface with those in health care utilization. Using population based samples representing different ethnic groups, we hope to cross-validate prior observations and to further explore the heterogeneity underlying the age norms of health care utilization and health status. To evaluate the research questions posed, hierarchical linear models will be used. In particular, ethnic differences in changes in health trajectories (health status as well as service utilization) within an older person will be represented by growth curves. The data used for these proposed analyses will come from an ongoing nationally representative public use longitudinal survey, the Asset and Health Dynamics Among the Oldest Old (AHEAD) collected at the University of Michigan's Institute for Social Research. PUBLIC HEALTH RELEVANCE: Understanding the trends of disability and decline in old age is of critical importance to health policymakers. In particular, identifying the challenges posed by an aging population with worse health outcomes for some groups relative to others is a necessary social planning instrument. This research proposes to examine the health and health care trends of older white, black and Latino Americans to determine whether such differential patterns in aging are at play.