Public health and aging: health-related quality of life among low-income persons aged 45-64 years--United States, 1995-2001.

Health-related quality of life (HRQOL) data are used to track population trends, identify health disparities, and monitor progress in achieving national health objectives for 2010. Low-income (i.e., annual household income of <15,000 dollars) adults aged > or =55 years have substantially more unhealthy days than low-income adults aged > or =65 years and adults aged 55-64 years with higher incomes. To verify this finding and determine whether it extends to low-income adults at younger ages, CDC analyzed HRQOL and related factors among a subset of respondents to the 1995-2001 Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System (BRFSS) surveys. This report summarizes the results of that analysis, which found that low-income adults aged 45-64 years have worse HRQOL than all other adults. Unemployment, inability to work, and activity limitation partially explain these HRQOL disparities in this age-income group. Targeting these risk factors and improving access to health care and social services (e.g., job training programs) could help increase the quality and years of healthy life and eliminate health disparities for persons in this age group.