Incomplete Ascertainment of Mortality in a Nationally Representative Longitudinal Study of Community-Living Older Americans.

Background: In longitudinal studies of older persons, complete ascertainment of mortality is needed to minimize potential biases. To ascertain mortality in the National Health and Aging Trends Study (NHATS), investigators are advised to use its Sensitive files, which include month and year of death on most decedents who had not dropped out of the study. Because losses to follow-up are not insubstantial, ascertainment of mortality is likely incomplete.

Neighborhood Disadvantage in a Nationally Representative Sample of Community-Living Older US Adults.

Importance: Although neighborhood socioeconomic disadvantage has become the standard for evaluating contextual socioeconomic deprivation at the Census-block level, little is known about its prevalence or association with long-term mortality in nationally representative samples of older persons.

Objectives: To estimate the prevalence of neighborhood disadvantage among a nationally representative sample of community-living older adults; to identify how prevalence estimates differ based on relevant demographic, socioeconomic, geographic, clinical, and geriatric characteristics; and to evaluate the association between neighborhood disadvantage and all-cause mortality.

Design, Setting, And Participants: This cohort study analyzed linked data of community-living persons aged 65 years or older in the contiguous US participating in the National Health and Aging Trends Study (NHATS) from 2011 to 2021.

Population-based estimates of major forms of housing insecurity among community-living older Americans.

Objectives: The number of older adults struggling to maintain adequate housing is growing. Prior studies have used various criteria to measure housing insecurity; however, no standardized definition exists to date. Using a multidimensional approach, our study sought to calculate population-based estimates of various forms of housing insecurity among community-living older Americans and determine how these estimates differ across key characteristics.

Changes in neighborhood disadvantage over the course of 22 years among community-living older persons.

Background: Among older persons, neighborhood disadvantage is a granular and increasingly used social determinant of health and functional well-being. The frequency of transitions into or out of a disadvantaged neighborhood over time is not known. These transitions may occur when a person moves from one location to another or when the Neighborhood Atlas, the data source for the area deprivation index (ADI) that is used to identify disadvantaged neighborhoods at the census-block level, is updated.

Association Between Cognitive Trajectories and Subsequent Health Status, Depressive Symptoms, and Mortality Among Older Adults in the United States: Findings From a Nationally Representative Study.

Background: Cognitive decline may be an early indicator of major health issues in older adults, though research using population-based data is lacking. Researchers objective was to assess the relationships between distinct cognitive trajectories and subsequent health outcomes, including health status, depressive symptoms, and mortality, using a nationally representative cohort.

Methods: Data were drawn from the National Health and Aging Trends Study.