Double jeopardy to health for black older adults?

Previous health research on the double jeopardy of being Black and old is largely based upon subjective assessments of health. This article discusses the measurement of health with the understanding that health indicators vary in their degree of objectivity/subjectivity and examines the double jeopardy thesis with data from a national sample of older adults. The results indicate that older Blacks tend to have poorer health, as judged by perceived health and disability, than older Whites. However, there is no evidence that the health differential between elderly Whites and elderly Blacks varies with age; the results do not support the double jeopardy hypothesis. The analysis also illustrates ways to assess the difference of effects in a multivariate model applied to more than one group.