Trends in Gender and Racial/Ethnic Disparities in Physical Disability and Social Support among U.S. Older Adults with Cognitive Impairment Living Alone, 2000-2018. A new GLO Discussion Paper by GLO Fellow Xi Chen and colleagues.

Discussion Paper, News, Post, Post-23

The findings of the new GLO Discussion Paper may prompt customized interventions to reduce disparities and unmet support needs.

Xi Chen

GLO Discussion Paper No. 1249, 2023
Trends in Gender and Racial/Ethnic Disparities in Physical Disability and Social Support among U.S. Older Adults with Cognitive Impairment Living Alone, 2000-2018 – Download PDF
by Chen, Shanquan & Zhang, Huanyu & Underwood, Benjamin R. & Wang, Dan & Chen, Xi & Cardinal, Rudolf N.

GLO Fellow Xi Chen

Author Abstract: Informal care is a primary source of support for older adults with cognitive impairment but is less available to those who live alone. We leverage the U.S. Health and Retirement Survey 2000-2018 to examine trends in the prevalence of physical disability and social support among older adults with cognitive impairment living alone, and their gender and racial/ethnic disparities. Information on physical disability and social support was collected through measures of basic and instrumental activities of daily living (BADLs, IADLs). Logistic and Poisson regression were adopted to estimate linear trends over time for binary and integer outcomes, respectively. Among those who reported BADL/IADL disability, the proportion unsupported for BADLs decreased significantly over time, while the proportion unsupported for IADLs increased significantly over time. Among those who received IADL support, the number of unmet IADL support needs increased significantly over time. Over time, Black respondents had a relatively increasing trend of being BADL-unsupported, and Hispanic and Black respondents had a relatively increasing trend in the number of unmet BADL needs, compared to the corresponding trends in White respondents. Among US older adults with cognitive impairment living alone, fewer people received IADL support over time, and the extent of unmet IADL support needs increased. Racial/ethnic disparities were seen both in the prevalence of reported BADL/IADL disability and unmet needs for BADL/IADL support; some but not all were compatible with a reduction in disparity over time. Our findings may prompt customized interventions to reduce disparities and unmet support needs.

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JUST PUBLISHED

Vol. 36, Issue 2, April 2023: Journal of Population Economics (JOPE) 16 articles.
https://link.springer.com/journal/148/volumes-and-issues/36-2

Vol. 36, Issue 1, January 2023: Journal of Population Economics (JOPE) 16 articles. https://link.springer.com/journal/148/volumes-and-issues/36-1
Watch the videos of article presentations on December 1, 2022 during the GLO Global Conference 2022.

JOPE has CiteScore 6.5 (2021, LINK) & Impact Factor 4.7 (2021, LINK)

GLO Discussion Papers are research and policy papers of the GLO Network which are widely circulated to encourage discussion. Provided in cooperation with EconStor, a service of the ZBW – Leibniz Information Centre for Economics, GLO Discussion Papers are among others listed in RePEc (see IDEAS,  EconPapers). Complete list of all GLO DPs – downloadable for free.

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