Department of Health and Human Services
Administration on Aging

Back to Previous

Press Room

Assistance with personal care and routine care needs

In 2005, a higher percentage of older women needed help with personal care and routine care needs than older men.

In the National Health Interview Survey, people are defined as needing assistance with personal care needs if, because of a physical, mental, or emotional problem, they require the help of others with such personal care needs as eating, bathing, dressing, or getting around inside their home. People are defined as needing assistance with routine needs if because of a physical, mental, or emotional problem, they require the help of others in handling routine needs such as everyday household chores, doing necessary business, shopping, or getting around for other purposes. Overall, among the non institutionalized population, a higher percentage of older women needed assistance with personal care and routine care needs than older men. In 2005, 8 percent of women aged 65 years and over (age adjusted) reported they needed help with personal care needs, compared with 5 percent of men. The percentage of people who needed help with personal care needs was higher for older age groups. In 2005, 4 percent of women aged 65-74 years reported that they needed assistance with personal care needs compared with 20 percent of those aged 85 years and over. Similarly, 3 percent of men aged 65 – 74 years reported that they needed assistance compared with 17 percent of those aged 85 years and over.

A higher percentage of older women were also more likely to have reported that they needed help with routine care needs, such as everyday household chores and shopping, than older men. In 2005, 15 percent of women aged 65 years and over (age adjusted) reported that they needed help with routine care needs, compared with 9 percent of men. The percentage of people who needed help with routine care needs was higher for older age groups. In 2005, 8 percent of women aged 65-74 years reported that they needed assistance with routine care needs compared with 37 percent of those aged 85 years and over. Similarly, 4 percent of men aged 65-74 years reported they needed assistance compared with 27 percent of those aged 85 years and over.

Excerpted from:
Trends in Health Status and Health Care Use

Among Older Women, CDC as accessed from:
http://www.cdc.gov/nchs/data/ahcd/agingtrends/07olderwomen.pdf

Life Expectancy Continues to Grow

New data released by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's (CDC) National Center for Health Statistics (NCHS), in "Health United States, 2006," finds that life expectancy in the United States was the highest ever in 2004, continuing the trend shown in recent years. In 2004, life expectancy at birth in the United States reached a new high of 77.8 years, up from 77.5 in 2003.

• Life expectancy at birth increased for both men (to 75.2 from 74.8) and women (to 80.4 from 80.1). Similarly, it increased for African Americans men (to 69.5 from 69.0) and for African American women (to 76.3 from 76.1).
• Life expectancy at age 65 increased for men to 17.1 additional years (total of 82.1 years) from 16.8 (81.3 years) and for women to 20.0 (85.0 years) from 19.8 (84.8 years). Life expectancy at age 65 also increased for Black men to 15.2 (total of 80.1 years) from 14.9 (79.9) and for Black women to 18.6 (83.6 years) from 18.5 (83.5 years).
• Overall, death rates for the total U.S. population dropped in 2004. The national age-adjusted death rate decreased 3.8% from 832.7 deaths per 100,000 population in 2003 to 801.0 deaths per 100,000 in 2004. There were declines in mortality among all reported racial, ethnic, and gender groups. The largest decrease was among Hispanic males (6.1%) and Hispanic females (6.3%)
• The nation’s leading causes of death for persons 65 and over were: heart disease (31.2 of all deaths of persons 65+ in 2003), cancer (21.6%), stroke (7.7%), chronic lower respiratory disease (6.0%), Alzheimer's Disease (3.5%), Influenza and Pneumonia (3.2%), and Diabetes (3.0%).

On the not-so-good side:

• Analyses of recent mortality rates rates suggest that while mortality for most of the leading causes of death among older persons is declining, there are several areas where it may be increasing. Recent years have seen increased mortality from essential hypertension and hypertensive renal disease as well as unintentional falls.

Sources:

• Health United States: 2006
• CDC’s National Center for Health Statistics web site: Deaths: Preliminary Data for 2004
• Trends in Causes of Death among Older Persons in the United States