THE BURDEN OF NINE HEALTH CONDITIONS ACROSS RACE/ETHNICITY IN A NATIONALLY-REPRESENTATIVE SAMPLE OF OLDER ADULTS. (11th November 2018) - McGrath, R
Abstract: The purpose of this study was to identify the burden of nine health conditions across race/ethnicity for a nationally-representative sample of older adults in the United States. Data from the 1998–2014 waves of the Health and Retirement Study were analyzed and sample weights were utilized. Those aged over 50 years that identified as Black (n=13, 169, 445), Hispanic (n=10, 045, 723), or White (n=91, 395, 572) were included. At each wave, participants reported if they had arthritis or rheumatism, back pain, cancer, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, congestive heart failure, diabetes, a fractured hip, myocardial infarction, and a stroke. Years of life lost to premature mortality and years lived with a disability were summed to determine disability-adjusted life years (DALYs) for each health condition by race/ethnicity. Within each race/ethnicity, DALYs were sorted from largest-to-smallest, and then ranked to examine how each race/ethnicity was differentially impacted by the burden of each health condition. Black, Hispanic, and White participants entered the study at 59.8 ± 9.1, 58.9 ± 8.2, and 61.3 ± 10.3 years of age, respectively. DALYs (in thousands) ranged from 1, 405–41, 397 for Blacks, 931–21, 737 for Hispanics, and 15, 313–270, 788 for Whites. Although certain health conditions impacted each race/ethnicity differently, arthritis or rheumatism had the greatest number of DALYs and hip fractures had the lowest, regardless of race/ethnicity. Our findings suggest that the burden of certain health conditions impacted each race/ethnicity differently. DALYs should continue to be monitored and compared across races/ethnicities so that health interventions are more targeted, utilization of healthcare is more inclusive, and practitioners are continually prepared to serve older adults.