Race differences in the health of elders who live alone.

This investigation was initiated to determine whether older African Americans who live alone are in poorer health than their White counterparts who live under the same circumstances. Data on 5 measures of health were collected in telephone interviews with a stratified random sample of community-dwelling elders (n = 1,189). Analysis of weighted data indicate that there were fewer differences in health by race among older persons who lived alone compared to elders who lived with others. Where racial differences in health did exist among older adults who lived alone, the differences could only sometimes be accounted for by population composition factors that are known to influence health.