Black–white differences in health-related quality of life among older adults

Author： Skarupski Kimberly Leon Carlos Bienias Julia Scherr Paul Zack Matthew Moriarty David Evans Denis

ISSN： 0962-9343

Source： Quality of Life Research, Vol.16, Iss.2, 2007-03, pp. : 287-296

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Abstract

Very little information exists on racial differences in quality of life among older adults. In this paper, we examine black–white differences in health-related quality of life (HRQOL) and identify factors that may account for these differences. The participants were 5,986 community-dwelling persons age 65+ (62% black at baseline) from the Chicago Health and Aging Project. Poor HRQOL was defined as having 14 or more self-reported physically or mentally unhealthy days over the past 30 days. A higher proportion of blacks (11.0%) than whites (9.7%) reported poor HRQOL. After adjusting for age and sex, blacks had increased odds of reporting poor HRQOL compared with whites (odds ratio [OR] = 1.72; 95% CI: 1.50–1.98). The black–white differences in HRQOL tended to increase with age (p < 0.05) and were greater among females (p < 0.05). Lifetime socioeconomic status, summary measures of medical conditions, and cognitive function accounted for most of the black–white difference (OR = 1.06; 95% CI: 0.89–1.27). Our results suggest that racial differences in HRQOL are associated with the combined effects of social disadvantage, poor physical health, and lower cognitive function.