Toward a Better Understanding of Race/Ethnic Differences in Active Life Expectancy

Mark D. Hayward, Pennsylvania State University
David F. Warner, Pennsylvania State University
Eileen Crimmins, University of Southern California

We use data from the 1992-2000 HRS to investigate changes in functional ability across race/ethnic groups. Specifically, we address three major questions on race/ethnic differences in active life: 1) How do changes in functional ability with age differ for whites, blacks and Hispanics? 2) How do the consequences of changes in functional ability with age differ for whites, blacks and Hispanics? 3) How similar is the education gradient in functional ability changes with age for whites, blacks and Hispanics? We use multistate life table models to describe changes in functional ability, estimating transition probabilities using a discrete-time hazard model, regressing the age-specific risk of functional change on dummy variables for black and Hispanic, and including indicators for sex, education level and the interactions between education and the race/ethnicity dummy variables. Using these estimated transition probabilities, we subject a hypothetical life table cohort to the implied functional ability change schedule.