Centre for Policy on Ageing



Race/ethnicity and socioeconomic class as correlates of disability in old age
Author(s)	Martha N Ozawa, Yeong Hun Yeo
Journal title	Journal of Gerontological Social Work, vol 51, issue 3/4, 2008
Publisher	The Haworth Press, Inc., 2008
Pages	pp 337-365
Source	http://www.tandfonline.com
Keywords	Physical disabilities ; Ethnic groups ; Social class ; Correlation ; United States of America.
Annotation	This article presents the results of a study on the correlates of disability in old age. At the descriptive level and in the regression model that includes only demographic variables as controls, it was found that the odds of Black and Hispanic elderly persons being disabled were greater. However, when socioeconomic factors and demographic factors were taken into account, the racial/ethnic disadvantage disappears. In the model that dealt with disability based on the composite indexes of disability (that is, all types of disability combined) and in the model that dealt with disability based on functional limitations, it was found that the odds of Black and Hispanic elderly persons being disabled were smaller than the odds of White elderly persons being disabled. The authors conclude that socioeconomic factors - not race/ethnicity - correlate with disability in old age. Implications for policy are discussed. (KJ/RH).
Accession Number	CPA-091104225 A
Classmark	BN: TK: T: 49: 7T
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...from the Ageinfo database published by Centre for Policy on Ageing.