Journal
JOURNALS OF GERONTOLOGY SERIES A-BIOLOGICAL SCIENCES AND MEDICAL SCIENCES
Volume 65, Issue 12, Pages 1325-1331Publisher
OXFORD UNIV PRESS INC
DOI: 10.1093/gerona/glq139
Keywords
Comorbidity; Disability; Gender; Function; Disparity
Categories
Funding
- National Institutes of Health [AG-023629]
- National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute [U01 HL080295, R01 HL-075366]
- National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke
- National Institute on Aging [R01 AG-15928, R01 AG-20098, AG-027058]
- University of Pittsburgh Pepper Center [P30-AG-024827]
- Hartford Foundation
- Duke Pepper Center [P30-AG-028716, K23-AG-032867]
- [N01-HC-85079]
- [N01-HC-85086]
- [N01-HC-35129]
- [N01 HC-15103]
- [N01 HC-55222]
- [N01-HC-75150]
- [N01-HC-45133]
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Older women experience disability more commonly than their male peers. This disparity may be due, in part, to sex-based differences in the prevalence or the disabling effects of common medical conditions. The objectives of this analysis were to (a) quantify the extent to which excess disability in women is explained by higher prevalence of selected medical conditions and (b) evaluate whether the same conditions have differing effects on disability in men and women. We analyzed cross-sectional data from 5,888 community-dwelling older men and women. Disability was defined as difficulty with greater than or equal to one activity of daily living. Thirteen medical conditions were assessed by self-report, testing, or record review. Controlling for age, race, education, and marital status, women were more likely to experience disability (odds ratio = 1.70, 95% confidence interval = 1.36-2.11). Higher prevalence of arthritis and obesity in women explained 30.2% and 12.9%, respectively, of the sex-based difference in disability rates, whereas male prevalent diseases like vascular conditions and emphysema narrowed the disability gap. Women with arthritis, hearing problems, coronary artery disease, congestive heart failure, stroke, and claudication were more likely to exhibit disability compared with men with the same conditions (p < .001). Efforts to lessen sex-based inequality in disability should focus on reducing the prevalence of arthritis and obesity. Future generations may see greater functional disparity if rates of vascular disease and emphysema rise among women. Several conditions were more often associated with disability in women, suggesting additional sex-based differences in the disablement process.
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