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Educational status and active life expectancy among older blacks and whites.

Publication ,  Journal Article
Guralnik, JM; Land, KC; Blazer, D; Fillenbaum, GG; Branch, LG
Published in: N Engl J Med
July 8, 1993

BACKGROUND AND METHODS: Persons of low socioeconomic status are known to have reduced life expectancy. In a study of the relation of socioeconomic status to disability-free or active life expectancy among older persons, we analyzed prospectively gathered data on 2219 blacks and 1838 whites who were 65 years of age or older in the Piedmont region of North Carolina. We defined disability as the inability to perform independently one or more basic functional activities such as walking, bathing, dressing, eating, and using the toilet. For subgroups defined by sex, race, and education, statistical models were used to estimate, for persons at each year of age, the probability of transition from not being disabled or being disabled at base line to not being disabled, being disabled, or having died one year later. These transition probabilities were then entered into increment-decrement life tables to generate estimates of total, active, and disabled life expectancy (with total life expectancy equal to active life expectancy plus disabled life expectancy). RESULTS: Sixty-five-year-old black men had a lower total life expectancy (11.4 years) and active life expectancy (10 years) than white men (total life expectancy, 12.6 years; active life expectancy, 11.2 years), although the differences were reduced after we controlled for education. The estimates for 65-year-old black women (total life expectancy, 18.7 years; active life expectancy, 15.9 years) were similar to those for white women. Black men and women 75 years old and older had higher values for total life expectancy and active life expectancy than whites, and the differences were larger after stratification for education. Education had a substantially stronger relation to total life expectancy and active life expectancy than did race. At the age of 65, those with 12 or more years of education had an active life expectancy that was 2.4 to 3.9 years longer than the values for those with less education in all the four subgroups defined by sex and race. Overall, the subgroups with longer total life expectancy and active life expectancy also lived more years with a disability. CONCLUSIONS: Among older blacks and whites, the level of education, a measure of socioeconomic status, has a greater effect than race on total life expectancy and active life expectancy.

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Published In

N Engl J Med

DOI

ISSN

0028-4793

Publication Date

July 8, 1993

Volume

329

Issue

2

Start / End Page

110 / 116

Location

United States

Related Subject Headings

  • White People
  • Prospective Studies
  • North Carolina
  • Male
  • Life Tables
  • Life Expectancy
  • Humans
  • Health Surveys
  • General & Internal Medicine
  • Follow-Up Studies
 

Citation

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Guralnik, J. M., Land, K. C., Blazer, D., Fillenbaum, G. G., & Branch, L. G. (1993). Educational status and active life expectancy among older blacks and whites. N Engl J Med, 329(2), 110–116. https://doi.org/10.1056/NEJM199307083290208
Guralnik, J. M., K. C. Land, D. Blazer, G. G. Fillenbaum, and L. G. Branch. “Educational status and active life expectancy among older blacks and whites.N Engl J Med 329, no. 2 (July 8, 1993): 110–16. https://doi.org/10.1056/NEJM199307083290208.
Guralnik JM, Land KC, Blazer D, Fillenbaum GG, Branch LG. Educational status and active life expectancy among older blacks and whites. N Engl J Med. 1993 Jul 8;329(2):110–6.
Guralnik, J. M., et al. “Educational status and active life expectancy among older blacks and whites.N Engl J Med, vol. 329, no. 2, July 1993, pp. 110–16. Pubmed, doi:10.1056/NEJM199307083290208.
Guralnik JM, Land KC, Blazer D, Fillenbaum GG, Branch LG. Educational status and active life expectancy among older blacks and whites. N Engl J Med. 1993 Jul 8;329(2):110–116.
Journal cover image

Published In

N Engl J Med

DOI

ISSN

0028-4793

Publication Date

July 8, 1993

Volume

329

Issue

2

Start / End Page

110 / 116

Location

United States

Related Subject Headings

  • White People
  • Prospective Studies
  • North Carolina
  • Male
  • Life Tables
  • Life Expectancy
  • Humans
  • Health Surveys
  • General & Internal Medicine
  • Follow-Up Studies