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elderly (senior citizen)
In reference to individuals over 65 years of age.
Also see related disorder in the elderly
Epidemiology:
Demographics: (1998)
1) 40 million persons (13% of the population) >= 65 years (2010)
2) number of persons > 65 years expected to double by 2050 from 40 million to 89 million [3]
3) between 2010 & 2050, the population of hispanic elderly is projected to increase faster than any other ethnic group, from 3 million to 18 million [3]
3) 33% of community-dwelling elderly live alone (1998)
- % increases with age
4) women are more likely to live alone than men
- 55-60% of women over 85 live alone compared to 28% of men
5) 22% of elderly women > 85 live in nursing home
6) median income of persons > 65 is $31,568
a) younger, married whites tend to have highest income
b) unmarried hispanic women have lowest income
7) ethnic variability in median income
a) $32,398 for white Americans
b) $22,102 for black Americans
c) $21,935 for Hispanic Americans
8) 10% of elderly lived below poverty line (1998)
- % higher for blacks (26%) & hispanics (21%)
9) 75% of older men are married; 43% of older women are married
- in persons > 85 years of age, 51% of men are married compared with 14% of women
10) women are 4 times more likely to be widowed than men
11) 67% of persons age 60-70 years had high school diploma
12) relative to their predecessors, elderly today are
a) better educated
b) better of financially
c) less functionally impaired
c) increasingly live alone or in alternative residential settings [3]
Notes:
- independence & quality of life are closely associated with being able to walk & drive a car [2]
- hospitalization is a harbinger of disability among community- dwelling elders [2]
Related
age-related physiological changes
aging
geriatrics
gerontology
Figures/Diagrams
Topics in Geriatrics
References
- Geriatrics Review Syllabus, American Geriatrics Society,
5th edition, 2002-2004
- Gill TM et al.
Risk factors and precipitants of long-term disability in
community mobility: A cohort study of older persons.
Ann Intern Med 2012 Jan 17; 156:131.
PMID: 22250144
- Gill TM et al.
The role of intervening hospital admissions on
trajectories of disability in the last year of life:
Prospective cohort study of older people.
BMJ 2015; 350:h2361.
PMID: 25995357
http://www.bmj.com/content/350/bmj.h2361
- Geriatric Review Syllabus, 8th edition (GRS8)
Durso SC and Sullivan GN (eds)
American Geriatrics Society, 2013