UNIVERSITY PARK, Pennsylvania – Baby boomers are more likely to live with many chronic health conditions than previous generations, according to new research from Penn State and Texas State University.
The study’s authors warn that the growing rate of multiple chronic diseases (multimorbidity) among older Americans poses a real threat to the country’s health. If it continues, this trend will almost certainly increase the pressure on the welfare of the elderly, medical infrastructure and federal insurance systems. On a related note, the number of Americans over the age of 65 is projected to increase by a staggering 50 percent by 2050.
Researchers point out that this is not the first study to indicate a further deterioration in health among today’s older adults. From now on, they would like their findings to help inform new policies that address this national issue.
“Even before the COVID-19 pandemic, we were beginning to see declines in life expectancy among middle-aged Americans, a trend reversal of more than a century,” says Steven Haas. associate professor of sociology and demography at Penn State, Penn State. a statement. “In addition, the last 30 years have seen the health of the population in the United States lag behind that of other high-income countries, and our findings suggest that the United States is likely to lag even further. of our colleagues “.
The study’s authors analyzed data from adults age 51 and older originally collected by the Health and Retirement Survey, which is a nationally representative survey of older Americans. Multimorbidity was measured taking into account nine chronic conditions: heart disease, hypertension, stroke, diabetes, arthritis, lung disease, cancer (excluding skin cancer), elevated depressive symptoms, and cognitive impairment. Variations in the specific conditions driving generational differences in multimorbidity were also investigated.
Healthier baby boomers than the Great Depression-era Americans?
Ultimately, the researchers concluded that newer generations of older adults are more likely to live with more chronic conditions and develop these problems earlier in life.
“For example, when comparing those born between 1948 and 1965, called baby boomers, with those born during the last years of the Great Depression (between 1931 and 1941) at similar ages,” adds Professor Haas, “baby boomers go show more chronic illnesses. Baby boomers also reported two or more chronic health conditions at younger ages. “
In particular, sociodemographic factors also appeared to affect the risk of multimorbidity among all generations. Examples include race and ethnicity, whether the person was born in the United States, child socioeconomic status, and child health.
The most common conditions seen in adults with multimorbidity (in all generations) were arthritis and hypertension. In addition, some evidence gathered suggests that both elevated depressive symptoms and diabetes contributed to the observed generational multimorbidity risk differences.
The study’s authors say there are multiple potential explanations for these findings.
“Later generations have had access to more advanced modern medicine for a longer period of their lives, so we can expect them to enjoy better health than those born earlier generations,” concludes Nicholas Bishop, assistant professor of Texas State University. “While this is partially true, advanced medical treatments can allow people to live with multiple chronic conditions that may have previously been shown to be fatal, potentially increasing the likelihood of a person experiencing multimorbidity.”
Professor Bishops adds that today’s older adults have had “greater exposure” to health risk factors such as obesity. In addition, health problems are more likely to be diagnosed in the elderly today thanks to improvements in medical technology.
The study is published in The Journals of Gerontology.