Open AccessSubdividing the Age Group of 85 Years and Older to Improve US Disease Reporting
Author(s) -
Francis P. Boscoe
Publication year - 2008
Publication title -
american journal of public health
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 2.284
H-Index - 264
eISSN - 1541-0048
pISSN - 0090-0036
DOI - 10.2105/ajph.2008.133900
Subject(s) - disease , longevity , demography , medicine , age groups , gerontology , population , environmental health , pathology , sociology
The standard terminal age category in disease reporting in the United States has been 85 years and older since the 1940s, but the dramatically increasing share of the US population reaching this age has rendered the single category inadequate for surveillance, research, and analysis. Important age-specific variations in mortality among the oldest old are masked by the continued use of this category. Greater specificity in age-specific data for the oldest old would aid in disease surveillance and etiologic research and broaden awareness and understanding of human longevity.