tailieunhanh - Trajectory Patterns of Self-Rated Health among the Elderly in Taiwan: A Comparison across Ethnicity

Relatively healthy older people, particularly those in the 60 to 70 age range, are likely to need services similar to other adult health center populations. They may face challenges similar to their younger counterparts; language barriers, limited health literacy, or cultural factors may impact health care access. Yet for the older-old, these familiar challenges are compounded by additional barriers to optimal care and quality of life. The disabled of any age often need supportive services to remain as healthy as possible and in the community. As the population ages into the 75+ or 85+ categories, there is more likelihood for. | An W _ _ 35 2007 A 12 M M 113-145 Journal of Population Studies No. 35 December 2007 pp. 113-145 research article Trajectory Patterns of Self-Rated Health among the Elderly in Taiwan A Comparison across Ethnicity Ho-Jui Tung Author s note This study was supported by a grant from the National Science Council NSC 94-2412-H-016-001 Taiwan. Data were taken from the Survey of Health and Living Status of the Elderly in Taiwan provided by the Bureau of Health Promotion Department of Health Taiwan ROC. Address correspondence to Ho-Jui Tung . Department of Healthcare Administration College of Health Science Asia University 500 Liufeng Road Wufeng Taichung County 41354 Taiwan E-mail htung@ Department of Healthcare Administration College of Health Science Asia University Taiwan Received October 2 2006 accepted August 6 2007 113 Journal of Population Studies No. 35 Abstract This study seeks to compare health trajectories across the two major ethnic groups of the elderly in Taiwan the Taiwanese and the Mainlanders over 11 years of follow-up. This ethnic division is considered a salient dimension of social stratification in Taiwan shaping the two groups of elders pathways through life. Data are from the first four waves of the Taiwan Survey of Health and Living Status of the Elderly N 3 540 . Proportional hazard models with time-dependent covariates and multinomial logistic regression were employed to compare health trajectories across ethnicity. There are three major findings. 1 Self-rated health is shown to be a remarkably strong predictor of mortality despite controlling for other variables which is consistent with the bulk of studies in this area. 2 By using a national representative sample of the elderly in Taiwan and treating self-rated health as a time-dependent covariate evidence from this study reveals that self-rated health reflects a person s health trajectory. 3 Considerable differences exist in the ways socio-structural forces are related to the .