Social vulnerability and aging of elderly people in the United States.
SSM Popul Health 2021;
16:100924. [PMID:
34604495 PMCID:
PMC8463908 DOI:
10.1016/j.ssmph.2021.100924]
[Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/04/2021] [Revised: 09/12/2021] [Accepted: 09/12/2021] [Indexed: 11/29/2022] Open
Abstract
We use 7 waves of the Health and Retirement Study and construct a social vulnerability index (SVI) for elderly U.S. Americans (born 1913–1966). We show that the SVI is mildly larger for men than for women and increases in age from above age 60 onwards for both genders. Social vulnerability of men (but not of women) is lower in the West and Midwest than in other regions and higher income mildly reduces the SVI for men (but not for women). In cohort analysis we find an increase of the SVI for individuals born in the late 1940s or later, which is, however, statistically significant only for women. In order to investigate the nexus between social vulnerability and aging, we construct a frailty index from the same data. We find that socially vulnerable persons display more health deficits at any age. Using the initial SVI (at first interview) we find that social vulnerability exerts a significant impact on subsequent accumulation of health deficits, which is of about the same size for men and women. A one standard deviation increase in the initial SVI leads to a 20 percent increase of the frailty index at any age.
Panel study of social vulnerability and aging in the U.S.
Social vulnerability index (SVI) increases for women born after 1940.
Strong impact of initial SVI on subsequent accumulation of health deficits.
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