Trajectories of Nonagenarian Health: Sex, Age, and Period Effects

Am J Epidemiol. 2019 Feb 1;188(2):382-388. doi: 10.1093/aje/kwy241.

Abstract

The US population aged 90 years or more is growing rapidly, and there are limited data on their health. The Cardiovascular Health Study is a prospective study of black and white adults aged ≥65 years recruited in 2 waves (1989-1990 and 1992-1993) from Medicare eligibility lists in Forsyth County, North Carolina; Sacramento County, California; Washington County, Maryland; and Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. We created a synthetic cohort of the 1,889 participants who had reached age 90 years at baseline or during follow-up through July 16, 2015. Participants entered the cohort at 90 years of age, and we evaluated their changes in health after age 90 years (median duration of follow-up, 3 years (interquartile range, 1.3-5)). Measures of health included cardiovascular events, cognitive function, depressive symptoms, prescription medications, self-rated health, and functional status. The mortality rate was high: 19.0 per 100 person-years (95% confidence interval : 17.8, 20.3) in women and 20.9 per 100 person-years (95% confidence interval: 19.2, 22.8) in men. Cognitive function and all measures of functional status declined with age; these changes were similar by sex. When we isolated period effects, we found that medication use increased over time. These estimates can help inform future research and can help health-care systems meet the needs of this growing population.

Publication types

  • Research Support, N.I.H., Extramural

MeSH terms

  • Activities of Daily Living
  • Age Factors
  • Aged, 80 and over
  • Black or African American / statistics & numerical data*
  • Cardiovascular Diseases / ethnology
  • Cognition
  • Cognition Disorders / ethnology
  • Depression / ethnology
  • Female
  • Health Status*
  • Humans
  • Male
  • Medicare / statistics & numerical data
  • Mental Health / ethnology*
  • Mortality / ethnology
  • Physical Functional Performance
  • Prescription Drugs / administration & dosage
  • Prospective Studies
  • Risk Factors
  • Sex Factors
  • Time Factors
  • United States
  • White People / statistics & numerical data*

Substances

  • Prescription Drugs