TY - JOUR
T1 - A changing relationship between disability and survival in the elderly population
T2 - differences by age
AU - Lamarca, Rosa
AU - Ferrer, Montserrat
AU - Andersen, Per Kragh
AU - Liestol, Knut
AU - Keiding, Niels
AU - Alonso, Jordi
N1 - Journal of Clinical Epidemiology 57 (2004) 324
Erratum
In the December 2003 issue of the Journal of Clinical
Epidemiology some information was presented incorrectly
in the article:
Lamarca R, Ferrer M, Andersen PK, Liestol K, Keiding
N, Alonso J. A changing relationship between disability and
survival in the elderly population: differences by age. J Clin
Epidemiol 2003;56:1192–1201.
The following is how the authors wish the information
to appear:
A) The country in Knut Liestol’s affiliation is Norway
and not Sweden.
B) On page 1193, in the Methods section, Sample, first
paragraph, 8th line: “The used was derived…” should
read: “The used questionnaire was derived…”
PY - 2003/12
Y1 - 2003/12
N2 - BACKGROUND: Longitudinal studies estimating the association between disability and mortality in the elderly population have typically assumed disability constant through the follow-up study period. Current knowledge indicates that such assumptions may not be appropriate. Our purpose was to examine this association (disability and mortality) taking into account the transitions in the disablement process. METHODS: 1,294 participants (aged 65 and over) in the Health Interview Survey of Barcelona were followed up for a median of 8 years. Nine basic activities of daily living (ADLs) were measured at baseline and at the end of follow-up. Individuals were defined as "dependent" if they reported not being able to perform one or more of the activities without assistance. Survival analysis with delayed entry, age as the time variable, and disability as a time-dependent variable was performed. RESULTS: The rates of disability had increased by the end of the follow-up (from 42.0 to 60.0% among women and from 30.0 to 48.0%, among men); 7.5% of disabled women at baseline and 28.5% of men recovered from disability. The adjusted relative risk of dying for those with basic ADLs dependency varied with age: at 80 years of age it was 3.5 for women and 1.8 for men, while at 90 years it was 1.9 and 1.2, respectively. CONCLUSIONS: Disability increases monotonically over time while the risk of mortality associated with disability varies with gender and age. Elderly disabled women should be considered a target group for intervention because they show higher rates of disability and are less likely to recover from disability. Our results illustrate the need to consider disability status as a time-dependent variable, to avoid an underestimation of its association with mortality.
AB - BACKGROUND: Longitudinal studies estimating the association between disability and mortality in the elderly population have typically assumed disability constant through the follow-up study period. Current knowledge indicates that such assumptions may not be appropriate. Our purpose was to examine this association (disability and mortality) taking into account the transitions in the disablement process. METHODS: 1,294 participants (aged 65 and over) in the Health Interview Survey of Barcelona were followed up for a median of 8 years. Nine basic activities of daily living (ADLs) were measured at baseline and at the end of follow-up. Individuals were defined as "dependent" if they reported not being able to perform one or more of the activities without assistance. Survival analysis with delayed entry, age as the time variable, and disability as a time-dependent variable was performed. RESULTS: The rates of disability had increased by the end of the follow-up (from 42.0 to 60.0% among women and from 30.0 to 48.0%, among men); 7.5% of disabled women at baseline and 28.5% of men recovered from disability. The adjusted relative risk of dying for those with basic ADLs dependency varied with age: at 80 years of age it was 3.5 for women and 1.8 for men, while at 90 years it was 1.9 and 1.2, respectively. CONCLUSIONS: Disability increases monotonically over time while the risk of mortality associated with disability varies with gender and age. Elderly disabled women should be considered a target group for intervention because they show higher rates of disability and are less likely to recover from disability. Our results illustrate the need to consider disability status as a time-dependent variable, to avoid an underestimation of its association with mortality.
U2 - 10.1016/S0895-4356(03)00201-4
DO - 10.1016/S0895-4356(03)00201-4
M3 - Journal article
C2 - 14680670
SN - 0895-4356
VL - 56
SP - 1192
EP - 1201
JO - Journal of Clinical Epidemiology
JF - Journal of Clinical Epidemiology
IS - 12
ER -