Katharina Buczek
The likelihood of women encountering functional limitations also declined by 16; meanwhile, for men, these odds decreased by 8%.
The study’s co-author, Jason Ferreirinha, stated that the cause of these gender differences is unclear. However, the gender gap may be attributed to differing health maintenance practices– since past research has suggested that women are more likely to get annual check-ups and participate in preventative care practices.
Additional analyses also revealed a link between some of the observed disability improvement and older adults who graduated from high school and college.
“Higher educational attainment increases health literacy and health-promoting behaviors,” explained Katherine Ahlin, a co-author of the study.
“One’s education levels also impact job type, which affects cardiovascular risk factors. And the lower one’s cardiovascular risk factors, the lower one’s levels of disability later in life.”
The researchers also believe that other factors may be at play, which warrants additional research– including decreases in smoking and levels of air pollutants, as well as the phasing out of leaded gasoline during the 1970s.
The research was based on 10 consecutive American Community Survey cross-sectional waves between 2008 and 2017. The American Community Survey is a nationally representative survey of older adults who live in the community or are institutionalized.
About half a million older U.S. adults were included in annual data collection– leading to a final sample size of 5.4 million U.S. adults over the age of 65.
To read the study’s complete findings, which have since been published in MDPI, visit the link here.
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