Health practices of the elderly poor.

The purpose of the present study was to describe the health practices of the elderly poor and to examine the association between specific health practices and subsequent hospital use. Data came from a sample of 931 Medicaid elderly living in California. Smoking, limited social networks, and lack of regular exercise significantly increased the odds of subsequent hospital utilization. Implications of these findings, which could benefit health promotion intervention and treatment programs for the elderly, were discussed.