Black Americans age 65 and older end their active lives earlier than whites and live more of their older years disabled, according to a study published Monday in Health Affairs.
Researchers examined changes in active life expectancy in the United States from 1982 to 2011 for white and black senior adults.
The study found that in the studied time frame, white Americans' longevity increased, disability was postponed to older ages, the locus of care shifted from nursing facilities to community settings, and they spent fewer years living with a disability.
However, for blacks, even as longevity increased, they were more likely to develop disabilities sooner than whites, and they didn't spend as many years as "active."
The study found older black women were especially disadvantaged in terms of the proportion of expected years living without disability.
Here are four study findings.
1. Between 1982 and 2011, the share of whites living in nursing facilities fell from 7.2 percent to 2.9 percent, while there was no change for blacks.
2. Years expected to be lived without disability increased from 1982 to 2011 for both whites and blacks at age 65, the study found. Whites gained 2.8 years of life without disability (from 12.2 to 15), while blacks gained 2.2 years (from 9.8 to 12). Researchers said about three-fourths of the increase in years lived without disability was due to improved survival (72 percent of the increase for whites and 78 percent for blacks.
3. The study also found the percentage of remaining life expected to be lived without disability at age 65 was higher for whites than for blacks in both 1982 (74 percent versus 65 percent, respectively) and 2011 (76 percent versus 67 percent).
4. Additionally, researchers found gaps between blacks and whites for both men and women in the number of years expected to be lived at age 65 without disability in 1982 and in 2011. In 2011, a 65-year-old white man could expect to live without disability for 82 percent of his remaining years, the study found, according to Kaiser Health News. In contrast, a 65-year-old black woman could only expect 62 percent of her remaining life to be lived without disability.
"Given that the baby boom[er] generation's long-term care demands are expected to peak in 2030, our findings support the need to continue closely monitoring the needs of older adults and the efficacy of health system reforms in meeting them," researchers concluded. "In the shorter run, improvements in medical, social and support services may be able to affect functioning and health trajectories, quality of life and costs of care for all older people. In the longer run, additional policies to address the root causes of late-life disability earlier in life — particularly those that disadvantage black women —may also be needed to reduce the late-life disparities in active life that have persisted since the early 1980s."
More articles on population health:
Why medically unnecessary surgeries still happen
St. Louis physicians, lawyers partner to resolve patients' legal issues
Maryland health chief: 'I just made a mistake' in not addressing mental health bed problem