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Centre for Policy on Ageing | |
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Racial disparities in receipt of hip and knee joint replacements are not explained by need
— the Health and Retirement Study 1998-2004 | | Author(s) | Nicholas Steel, Allan Clark, Iain A Lang |
| Journal title | Journals of Gerontology: Series A, Biological Sciences and Medical Sciences, vol 63A, no 6, June 2008 |
| Pages | pp 629-634 |
| Source | http://www.geron.org |
| Keywords | Ethnic groups ; Musculoskeletal diseases ; Pain ; Orthopaedics ; Needs [elderly] ; Longitudinal surveys ; United States of America. |
| Annotation | Data from the US Health and Retirement Study (HRS) were used to assess need for hip or knee joint replacement in a total of 14,807 adults aged 60+ in 1998, 2000, and 2002 and receipt of needed surgery 2 years later. "Need" classification was based on difficulty walking, joint pain, stiffness, or swelling and receipt of treatment for arthritis, without contraindications to surgery. Need in 2002 was greater in participants who were older than 74 years (vs 60-64: adjusted odds ratio 2.06; 95% confidence interval, 1.68-2.53), women (vs men: 1.81; 1.53-2.14), less educated (vs college educated: 1.27; 1.06-1.52), in the poorest third (vs richest: 2.20; 1.78-2.72), or obese (vs non-obese: 2.39; 2.02-2.81). 168 participants in need received a joint replacement, with lower receipt in black or African American participants (vs white: 0.47; 0.26-0.83) or less educated (vs college educated: 0.65; 0.44-0.96). These differences were not explained by current employment, access to medical care, family responsibilities, disability, living alone, comorbidity, or exclusion of those younger than Medicare eligibility age. After taking variations in need into consideration, being black or African American or lacking a college education appears to be a barrier to receiving surgery, whereas age, sex, relative poverty, and obesity do not. These disparities maintain disproportionately high levels of pain and disability in disadvantaged groups. (KJ/RH). |
| Accession Number | CPA-091214210 A |
| Classmark | TK: CL: CT7: LKB: IK: 3J: 7T |
Data © Centre for Policy on Ageing |
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| ...from the Ageinfo database published by Centre for Policy on Ageing. |
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