Smith J P, Kington R
RAND, Santa Monica, CA 90407-2138, USA.
Demography. 1997 Feb;34(1):159-70.
In this paper we examine disparities in the ability to function among older Americans. We place special emphasis on two goals: (1) understanding the quantitatively large socioeconomic status-health gradient, and (2) the persistence in health outcomes over long periods. We find that there exist strong contemporaneous and long-run feedbacks from health to economic status. In light of these feedbacks, it is important to distinguish among alternative sources of income and the recipient of income in the household. This research also demonstrates that health outcomes at old age are influenced by health attributes of past, concurrent, and future generations of relatives. Finally, we find that the demographic and economic differences that exist among them explain functional health disparities by race and ethnicity, but not by gender.
在本文中，我们研究了美国老年人的功能能力差异。我们特别强调两个目标：（1）理解数量上较大的社会经济地位与健康之间的梯度关系，以及（2）健康结果在长期内的持续性。我们发现，从健康到经济状况存在着强烈的同期和长期反馈。鉴于这些反馈，区分家庭中不同的收入来源和收入接受者很重要。这项研究还表明，老年人的健康结果受到过去、同时期和未来几代亲属的健康属性的影响。最后，我们发现他们之间存在的人口和经济差异解释了不同种族和族裔之间的功能健康差异，但不能解释性别之间的差异。
