Health and functioning among the elderly of Marin County, California: a glimpse of the future

The purpose of this study was to obtain information concerning the health status of the theoretically advantaged elderly population of Marin County, California, and to compare these data with those from other populations with different levels of socioeconomic status.

An age-stratified sample of 2,018 community-dwelling elderly residents of Marin was selected, and these participants were interviewed between 1989 and 1991. Interview items included medical history of life-threatening diseases and chronic conditions, reported and observed disabilities, and life-style characteristics.

While the residents of Marin had lower mortality rates than the total U.S. population, there were few meaningful differences in measures of health and function in comparison to other elderly populations with substantially lower levels of socioeconomic status. The main exceptions were better memory performance and lower depressive symptomatology in Marin. Because of the many methodological differences, these comparisons must be viewed with caution.

The general pattern of findings in this study indicates that while death has been postponed in this socioeconomically advantaged population, the prevalence of disease and disability has not. If true, this implies that residents of an affluent community can spend a longer rather than shorter period of their late life in a state of infirmity and in need of medical care. This appears to be especially true for women.