Health of Community-Dwelling Adults With Mobility Limitations in the United States: Incidence of Secondary Health Conditions. Part II
Presented as an abstract to American Public Health Association, December 14, 2005, Philadelphia, PA.
Abstract
Rasch EK, Magder L, Hochberg MC, Magaziner J, Altman BM. Health of community-dwelling adults with mobility limitations in the United States: incidence of secondary health conditions. Part II.
Objective
To compare incident health conditions that occurred over a 2-year period in nationally representative groups of adults with mobility, nonmobility, and no limitations.
Design
Data were collected prospectively from a probability subsample of households that represent the civilian, noninstitutionalized U.S. population.
Setting
Five rounds of household interviews were conducted over 2 years.
Participants
Data were analyzed on the same respondents from the 1996−1997 Medical Expenditure Panel Survey (MEPS) and the 1995 National Health Interview Survey Disability Supplement. Respondents were categorized into 3 groups for analysis; those with mobility limitations, nonmobility limitations, and no limitations. The analytic sample included 12,302 MEPS adults (≥18y).
Interventions
Not applicable.
Main Outcome Measures
Number, types, and 2-year incidence of self-reported health conditions compared across groups.
Results
The mean number of incident conditions (95% confidence intervals [CIs]) over the 2-year period was greatest in adults with mobility limitations (mean, 4.7; 95% CI, 4.4−4.9) compared with those with nonmobility limitations (mean, 3.9; 95% CI, 3.7−4.2) or no limitations (mean, 2.6; 95% CI, 2.5−2.7). Incident conditions affected most major body systems.
Conclusions
Because secondary conditions are potentially preventable, determining factors that influence their occurrence is an important public health issue requiring specific action.
aClinical Research Center, Rehabilitation Medicine Department, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, MD
bUniversity of Maryland School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD
cNational Center for Health Statistics, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Hyattsville, MD
Correspondence to Elizabeth K. Rasch, PT, PhD, National Institutes of Health, Bldg 10, CRC, Room 1469, 10 Center Dr, MSC 1604, Bethesda, MD 20892-1604
No commercial party having a direct financial interest in the results of the research supporting this article has or will confer a benefit upon the authors or upon any organization with which the authors are associated.
Reprints are not available from the author.
1 Rasch was employed at the National Center for Health Statistics, Center for Disease Control and Prevention when this work was completed.
ABSTRACT