Primary Submission Category: Socioeconomic status
Education Disparities in Dual-Function Life Expectancy: Variation by Gender and Race-Ethnicity
Authors: Shawn Bauldry Patricia Thomas Madison Sauerteig-Rolston Kenneth Ferraro
Presenting Author: Shawn Bauldry*
Background: Recent work has developed a new concept, dual functionality, that represents the combination of physical and cognitive functioning. Both domains of functioning are important for independent living and quality of life among older adults. This study analyzes education-based disparities in dual functionality and dual-function life expectancy with a focus on how any disparities differ by gender and across racial-ethnic groups.
Methods: Using data from the Health and Retirement Study and the National Health Interview Study Linked Mortality Files, this study constructs a measure of dual functionality based on the absence of limitations in activities of daily living and dementia. Logit models are used to predict the prevalence of dual functionality across different levels of education, gender, and race-ethnicity (foreign-born Hispanic, US-born Hispanic, non-Hispanic Black, and non-Hispanic White) in five-year age intervals beginning at age 50 and top coded at age 85. The predicted dual-function rates are then used in Sullivan life tables to estimate age-50 dual-function life expectancy for various subgroups with bootstrapped standard errors.
Preliminary Results: Preliminary analyses reveal substantial disparities in the prevalence of dual functionality by education, gender, and race-ethnicity. For instance, at ages 50 to 54, we estimate a 5 to 10 percentage point gap between non-Hispanic Black older adults and White older adults. These gaps translate into substantial inequalities in age-50 dual-function life expectancies ranging from 2 to 12 years depending on the groups being compared.
Contributions: Dual-function life expectancy provides a measure of population health that accounts for quality of life and the capacity for independent living in a broader framework than past studies focusing on physical (e.g., disability free life expectancy) or cognitive (e.g., dementia free life expectancy) health in isolation.