US trends in disability and institutionalization among older Blacks and Whites

Objectives. This study estimated and compared the prevalence of disability and institutionalization in 1982, 1983, and 1989 among the older Black and White populations of the United States. Methods. Data on over 1100 Blacks and 14 000 Whites in each of a series of three National Long Term Care Surveys were used. Results. Diverging trends for Blacks and Whites led to statistically significant increases in the age- and sex-adjusted odds of disability (19%) and institutionalization (31%) for Blacks relative to Whites. Conclusions. Black and White disparities in disability appear to have widened, while disparities in institutionalization appear to have narrowed during the decade of the 1980s.