There Have Been Dramatic Decreases In The Prevalence Of Disabilities Among Older U.S. Adults Since 2008, New Research Reveals

InsideCreativeHouse - stock.adobe.com - illustrative purposes only, not the actual people
InsideCreativeHouse - stock.adobe.com - illustrative purposes only, not the actual people

According to a new nationally representative study of 5.4 million older Americans, disability prevalence among U.S. adults over the age of 65 was significantly lower from 2008 to 2017 as compared to the decade prior.

This stark decline was apparent in various day-to-day activities. For instance, the odds of encountering limitations in daily living– such as bathing or getting dressed– decreased by 18%. Similarly, the odds of experiencing functional limitations– such as difficulty climbing stairs or walking– decreased by 13%.

Back in 2008, approximately 12.1% of older U.S. adults reported experiencing limitations in daily living. Yet, by 2017, this reporting population decreased to 9.6%.

To put the decline into perspective: if the prevalence of daily living limitations remained at the 2008 level of 12.1%, then 1.27 million more older Americans would have been affected in 2017.

Functional limitations also witnessed a considerable decrease from 27.3% to 23.5% between 2008 and 2017.

Due to this decline, 1.89 million fewer U.S. adults encountered functional limitations that impacted their quality of life.

According to Esme Fuller-Thomson, the study’s first author, these dramatic improvements have critical implications for communities across the nation.

“This decline in the prevalence of disabilities has a wide range of benefits for older adults, their families and caregivers, and the healthcare system at large,” she said.

Older women did show greater improvements in disabilities as opposed to older men. The researchers found that women’s odds of encountering daily living limitations decreased by 20% compared to the 13% decrease among men.

InsideCreativeHouse – stock.adobe.com – illustrative purposes only, not the actual people

The likelihood of women encountering functional limitations also declined by 16; meanwhile, for men, these odds decreased by 8%.

The study’s co-author, Jason Ferreirinha, stated that the cause of these gender differences is unclear. However, the gender gap may be attributed to differing health maintenance practices– since past research has suggested that women are more likely to get annual check-ups and participate in preventative care practices.

Additional analyses also revealed a link between some of the observed disability improvement and older adults who graduated from high school and college.

“Higher educational attainment increases health literacy and health-promoting behaviors,” explained Katherine Ahlin, a co-author of the study.

“One’s education levels also impact job type, which affects cardiovascular risk factors. And the lower one’s cardiovascular risk factors, the lower one’s levels of disability later in life.”

The researchers also believe that other factors may be at play, which warrants additional research– including decreases in smoking and levels of air pollutants, as well as the phasing out of leaded gasoline during the 1970s.

The research was based on 10 consecutive American Community Survey cross-sectional waves between 2008 and 2017. The American Community Survey is a nationally representative survey of older adults who live in the community or are institutionalized.

About half a million older U.S. adults were included in annual data collection– leading to a final sample size of 5.4 million U.S. adults over the age of 65.

To read the study’s complete findings, which have since been published in MDPI, visit the link here.

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Katharina Buczek graduated from Stony Brook University with a degree in Journalism and a minor in Digital Arts. Specializing ... More about Katharina Buczek

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