Demographic factors in the disability determination process: a logistic approach

Area of Science:

• Social Sciences
• Public Health
• Health Services Research

Background:

• Assessing Social Security disability insurance operations requires understanding demographic influences on benefit allowance.
• Previous research used limited analyses, revealing demographic disparities in disability claims.

Purpose of the Study:

• To rigorously examine demographic factors affecting Social Security disability insurance benefit allowance.
• To control for inter-variable effects using advanced statistical methods.

Main Methods:

• Employed a logit maximum likelihood procedure for statistical analysis.
• Controlled for multiple demographic characteristics simultaneously to assess their impact on allowance probability.

Main Results:

• Cardiovascular diagnoses showed a higher probability of allowance compared to other primary diagnoses.
• Factors increasing allowance probability included mobility restrictions, older age at disability onset, and residing in states with temporary disability programs.
• Being Black or residing in the South was associated with a lower probability of allowance for both men and women.

Conclusions:

• Demographic factors significantly influence Social Security disability insurance allowance.
• The findings highlight disparities in benefit access based on diagnosis, mobility, age, region, and race.