Age-by-race differences in the health and functioning of elderly persons.

A review of health data identified four major trends in the elderly population: (a) a younger Black group that was more morbid than an older Black group, (b) an alternating pattern of Black morbid and robust age groups, (c) a Black disadvantage in health and functioning that was greater in race comparisons involving the Black morbid and less in comparisons involving the Black robust age groups, and (d) a Black health detriment that seemed to narrow at age 85. The trends suggest that age and health are more strongly related in the White elderly than in the Black elderly population. The trends also are compatible with the more rapid growth of Blacks aged 85 and over than any other group of the elderly, adverse mortality selection processes, and the racial mortality crossover. Issues for new research that will explain these four trends are discussed.