The Jerusalem seventy year olds longitudinal study. II: Background results from the initial home interview

Basic background information is presented from a representative sample of 605 West Jerusalem Jewish residents aged 70 years in 1990/91. A followup survey of the original cohort is planned for 1996, in addition to a similar sized control group of persons not studied in 1990/91. This paper describes the demographic characteristics, marital status, household composition, migration patterns, language comprehension, education, employment status, religious practices, household conditions, health status, health service utilization, health practices, use of medications, social contacts and activities of daily living of the study population. Only 16% of the study population were born in Israel, the remainder were born in forty different countries in four continents. This article also presents some ethnic comparisons within our cohort. Some significant differences were found between ethnic sub-groups in self-reported chronic diseases. However, many of these differences disappeared when socio-economic covariates were considered. Differences were also found when specific countries were considered. Compared to Polish-born Jews, Moroccan-born Jews had lower economic status, less education, more family contacts and less faith in physicians. Moroccan-born Jews also reported more morbidity for cerebrovascular disorders, emphysema and glaucoma.