Purpose: Pain and depression are linked to higher mortality risk and lower subjective survival probabilities (SSPs). We examine if SSPs for individuals with pain and depression match their actual lifespans.
Methods: Using data on 12,745 Health and Retirement Study respondents aged 57-89 in 2000 with follow-up through 2018, we assessed whether respondents' SSPs were "correct," "underestimated," or "overestimated" relative to their lifespans.
Introduction: In recent decades, the global population has aged rapidly while socioeconomic inequalities in health have widened, with older adults who are most disadvantaged experiencing the poorest health. Functional limitations are key predictors of disability and quality of life and are therefore considered an important measure of how well individuals and populations are aging. We determine if educational inequalities in functioning have widened over time and across countries.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFIn the US, spouses are a major source of informal care for older adults and, therefore, key to the US national strategy to provide long-term care to the growing population of older adults. Understanding the mental health impacts of spousal caregiving is therefore critically important. Existing studies on the topic have often been limited by methodological limitations, and most overlook the role of caregiving intensity.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFJ Gerontol B Psychol Sci Soc Sci
December 2024
Objectives: Exposure to stressful neighborhood environments is a well-established risk factor for health deterioration and premature death. However, the biological underpinnings are not fully understood. Epigenetic aging may function as a key molecular pathway to adverse health outcomes among residents of high-stress neighborhoods.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFHopelessness is one of the strongest predictors of health and mortality, particularly for older populations. Prior research has found associations between individual-level socioeconomic factors and hopelessness, but less is known about the potential importance of neighborhood-level socioeconomic contexts for hopelessness. In particular, the role of neighborhood disorder as a potential explanatory factor for poor psychological well-being remains underexplored.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFJ Gerontol B Psychol Sci Soc Sci
November 2024
Objectives: The objective of this study is to examine differences in socioeconomic gradients (i.e., education, income, and wealth) in frailty by gender in the United States and England.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFFederal legislation and judicial intervention led to significant transformation in the U.S. education system during the early to mid-20th century.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFObjectives: We investigate global differences in psychosocial well-being between older adult age groups.
Methods: Using multinomial logistic regression, we analyzed 2018 data ( = 93,663) from 9 countries/regions in the Health and Retirement Study international family of studies to compare age group differences in depression, loneliness, and happiness.
Results: Compared to the young old, the old-old reported more depression in Southern Europe, while the oldest old had higher risk in India and Southern Europe but lower risk in the United States.
Unlabelled: Policy Points Education-cognition research overlooks the role of education quality in shaping cognitive function at midlife and older ages, even though quality may be more responsive to federal and state investment in public schooling than attainment. For older US adults who attended school during the early to mid-20th century, the quality of US education improved considerably as federal and state investment increased. Ensuring access to high-quality primary and secondary education may protect against poor cognitive function at midlife and older ages, particularly among Black Americans and persons who complete less education.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFJ Gerontol A Biol Sci Med Sci
July 2024
Background: Cardiometabolic risk (CMR) is associated with cognitive health, but the association can be affected by broader social, economic, and medical contexts. The United States and China have very different developmental and epidemiological histories, and thus CMR among older people could be linked to cognitive function differently in the 2 countries.
Methods: Cross-sectional and longitudinal ordinary least squares regression models were estimated for each country using nationally representative samples of populations over age 50: 7 430/4 474 Americans and 6 108/3 655 Chinese in the cross-sectional/longitudinal samples.
J Gerontol B Psychol Sci Soc Sci
July 2024
Objectives: Pain is a leading cause of disability and a limiting factor in individuals' assessments of their own subjective health; however, its association with subjective longevity has yet to be explored. Subjective survival probabilities (SSPs), or one's own perceived chances of living to a given age, can influence individuals' behavior as they plan for their futures. This study assesses whether pain correlates to lower SSPs.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFObjective: Functional limitations are prevalent among aging demographics, especially women. Structural and health factors, which vary worldwide, influence rates of functional limitations. Yet, gender disparities in functional limitation remain unclear in a global context.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFColombia's population is rapidly aging and older adults are living longer, however, we have limited information on the level of disability and number of years older Colombians spend with disability. We estimated age-and-gender specific ADL, IADL and mobility disability prevalence and disabled life expectancy (DLE) and to examined gender differences. Life tables came from the Colombian vital statistics and disability prevalence data came from the cross-sectional 2015 Colombia National Survey of Health, Well-being, and Aging.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground: Hearing loss has been identified as an independent risk factor for negative health outcomes and mortality. However, whether rehabilitation with hearing aid use is associated with lower mortality is currently unknown. This study aimed to examine the associations of hearing loss, hearing aid use, and mortality in the USA.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFIntroduction: There is growing interest in accelerating adoptions of vaccines. This study examined factors that differentiate the acceptance and timing of uptake of the first shingles vaccine, Zostavax, among older adults in the U.S.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFRationale: Black adults experience worse cognitive function than their White peers. Although educational attainment is an important predictor of cognitive function, other aspects of education, including school desegregation, may also shape this relationship. For Black adults who grew up in the U.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFScholars consistently find that renters have poorer health outcomes when compared with homeowners. Health disparities between renters and homeowners likely widen over the life course, yet few studies have examined this link among older adults, and the connection is not fully understood. Homeowners' relative socioeconomic advantage may explain their better health; renters also more commonly experience adverse housing conditions and financial challenges, both of which can harm health.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground: The aging process is accompanied by decline in kidney functioning. It remains unknown to what extent age-related decline in kidney functioning can be attributed to health indicators, and whether rate of decline differs across sociodemographic groups.
Methods: Using data from the Health and Retirement Study from 2006/2008 through 2014/2016, we estimated kidney functioning trajectories, determined by cystatin C, among adults aged over 51 over 8 years.
Aging Ment Health
January 2024
Objectives: Prior research into the factors linked to mental health of caregivers of older adults have largely focused on individual- or household-level characteristics, but neighborhood supports and stressors may also matter for caregiver mental health. The current study fills this knowledge gap by examining the association of neighborhood social cohesion and disorder and depressive symptoms among spousal caregivers.
Method: We used data from the 2006 to 2016 waves of the Health and Retirement Study, which include 2,322 spousal caregivers.
Background And Objectives: Self-perceptions of aging (SPA) are associated with health and well-being later in life. Although prior studies have identified individual-level predictors of SPA, the role of neighborhood social context in SPA remains largely unexplored. A neighborhood social environment may act as a critical avenue for older adults to remain healthy and socially active, contributing to their evaluations of how they grow old.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFIndependent living can become challenging for people experiencing cognitive decline. With reduced functioning and greater care needs, many people with dementia (PWD) may need to move to another home with better safety features, move to live closer to or with relatives who can provide care, or enter a nursing home. Housing plays a key role in supporting quality of life for both PWD and their caregivers, so the ability to move when needed is crucial for their well-being.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFJ Gerontol B Psychol Sci Soc Sci
June 2023
Objectives: There is a common belief that demanding jobs can make workers age faster, but there is little empirical evidence linking occupational characteristics to accelerated biological aging. We examine how occupational categorizations and self-reported working conditions are associated with expanded biological age, which incorporates 22 biomarkers and captures physiologic dysregulation throughout several bodily systems.
Methods: Data are from 1,133 participants in the Health and Retirement Study who were aged 51-60 and working for pay in the 2010 or 2012 wave and who participated in the 2016 Venous Blood Study.
Background: Socioeconomic inequality in access to and use of health services and social care provided near the end of life, or end-of-life care (EOLC), is not well understood in many countries. We examined wealth inequality in EOLC-hospital, nursing home, and hospice use and receipt of formal and informal caregiving-in 22 countries in Europe, Asia (South Korea), and North America (United States, Mexico).
Methods: We used harmonized data from nationally representative studies of people aged 50 and older that collected information on healthcare utilisation and caregiving receipt in the time preceding death.
Objectives: The COVID-19 pandemic greatly impacted the social lives of older adults across several areas, leading to concern about an increase in loneliness. This study examines the associations of structural, functional, and quality aspects of social connection with increased loneliness during COVID-19 and how these associations vary by sociodemographic factors.
Design: Secondary data analyses on a nationally representative survey of older US adults.
Background: During the COVID-19 Pandemic, adults in the United States reported delaying medical care, which may be tied risk of infection and local policies limiting appointment. Some populations may have been more likely to delay care than others, leading to other forms of health inequality during this period. To-date there is little research on delayed care among U.
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