Sammendrag
An increase in the number of older adults may
raise the demand for health and care services, whereas
decreasing prevalence of disability and functional limitations among them might counteract this demographic
effect. However, the trends in health are inconsistent
between studies and countries. In this article, we estimated
the trends in mild disability and functional limitations
among older Norwegians and analyzed whether they differ
between socio-demographic groups. Data were obtained
from repeated cross-sectional surveys conducted in 1987,
1991, 1995, 2002, 2005, and 2008, in total 4,036 noninstitutionalized persons aged 67 years or older. We analyzed trends using multivariate logistic regression. On
average, the age-adjusted trend in functional limitations
was -3.3% per year, and in disability 3.4% per year. The
risk for functional limitations or disability was elevated for women compared to men, for married compared to nonmarried, and was inversely associated with educational
level The trends were significantly weaker with increasing
age for disabilities, whereas none of the trends differed
significantly between subgroups of sexes, educational level
or marital status. Both functional limitations free and disability-free life expectancy appeared to have increased
more than total life expectancy at age 67 during this period.
The analysis suggests downward trends in the prevalence
of mild disability and functional limitations among older
Norwegians between 1987 and 2008 and a compression of
lifetime in such health states. The reduced numbers of
older people with disability and functional limitations may
have restrained the demand for health and care services
caused by the increase in the number of older adults.
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