Women Live Longer …
The AAR observes that since women live longer than men, "the face of the worldwide longevity revolution is predominantly a female face." In the United States the life expectancy in 2001 for females born in that year was 5.4 years more than for males born the same year. (See Table 10.8.) In 2000 there were 85 men ages 65 to 69 for every 100 women in the same age span. As both sexes age, the gap widens. For those age 80 and over, there are only 52 men for every 100 women (See Table 10.9.) The U.S. Census Bureau found that in 2000 more than two-thirds of all people older than 85 were women—there were approximately 3 million women, compared with 1.2 million men.
TABLE 10.6
Death rates for cerebrovascular diseases, by sex, race, Hispanic origin, and age, selected years 1950–2001
[Data are based on death certificates]
| Sex, race, Hispanic origin, and age | 1950 | 1960 | 1970 | 1980 | 1990 | 1995 | 2000 | 2001 | |
| All persons | Deaths per 100,000 resident population | ||||||||
| All ages, age adjusted2 | 180.7 | 177.9 | 147.7 | 96.2 | 65.3 | 63.1 | 60.9 | 57.9 | |
| All ages, crude | 104.0 | 108.0 | 101.9 | 75.0 | 57.8 | 59.2 | 59.6 | 57.4 | |
| Under 1 year | 5.1 | 4.1 | 5.0 | 4.4 | 3.8 | 5.9 | 3.3 | 2.7 | |
| 1–4 years | 0.9 | 0.8 | 1.0 | 0.5 | 0.3 | 0.4 | 0.3 | 0.4 | |
| 5–14 years | 0.5 | 0.7 | 0.7 | 0.3 | 0.2 | 0.2 | 0.2 | 0.2 | |
| 15–24 years | 1.6 | 1.8 | 1.6 | 1.0 | 0.6 | 0.5 | 0.5 | 0.5 | |
| 25–34 years | 4.2 | 4.7 | 4.5 | 2.6 | 2.2 | 1.7 | 1.5 | 1.5 | |
| 35–44 years | 18.7 | 14.7 | 15.6 | 8.5 | 6.4 | 6.5 | 5.8 | 5.5 | |
| 45–54 years | 70.4 | 49.2 | 41.6 | 25.2 | 18.7 | 17.4 | 16.0 | 15.1 | |
| 55–64 years | 194.2 | 147.3 | 115.8 | 65.1 | 47.9 | 45.6 | 41.0 | 38.0 | |
| 65–74 years | 554.7 | 469.2 | 384.1 | 219.0 | 144.2 | 136.2 | 128.6 | 123.4 | |
| 75–84 years | 1,499.6 | 1,491.3 | 1,254.2 | 786.9 | 498.0 | 477.1 | 461.3 | 443.9 | |
| 85 years and over | 2,990.1 | 3,680.5 | 3,014.3 | 2,283.7 | 1,628.9 | 1,607.2 | 1,589.2 | 1,500.2 | |
| Male | |||||||||
| All ages, age adjusted2 | 186.4 | 186.1 | 157.4 | 102.2 | 68.5 | 65.9 | 62.4 | 59.0 | |
| All ages, crude | 102.5 | 104.5 | 94.5 | 63.4 | 46.7 | 47.2 | 46.9 | 45.2 | |
| Under 1 year | 6.4 | 5.0 | 5.8 | 5.0 | 4.4 | 6.4 | 3.8 | 3.1 | |
| 1–4 years | 1.1 | 0.9 | 1.2 | 0.4 | 0.3 | 0.4 | * | 0.3 | |
| 5–14 years | 0.5 | 0.7 | 0.8 | 0.3 | 0.2 | 0.2 | 0.2 | 0.2 | |
| 15–24 years | 1.8 | 1.9 | 1.8 | 1.1 | 0.7 | 0.5 | 0.5 | 0.5 | |
| 25–34 years | 4.2 | 4.5 | 4.4 | 2.6 | 2.1 | 1.8 | 1.5 | 1.6 | |
| 35–44 years | 17.5 | 14.6 | 15.7 | 8.7 | 6.8 | 7.0 | 5.8 | 5.7 | |
| 45–54 years | 67.9 | 52.2 | 44.4 | 27.2 | 20.5 | 19.5 | 17.5 | 16.7 | |
| 55–64 years | 205.2 | 163.8 | 138.7 | 74.6 | 54.3 | 52.7 | 47.2 | 43.4 | |
| 65–74 years | 589.6 | 530.7 | 449.5 | 258.6 | 166.6 | 154.7 | 145.0 | 140.4 | |
| 75–84 years | 1,543.6 | 1,555.9 | 1,361.6 | 866.3 | 551.1 | 517.7 | 490.8 | 467.3 | |
| 85 years and over | 3,048.6 | 3,643.1 | 2,895.2 | 2,193.6 | 1,528.5 | 1,522.1 | 1,484.3 | 1,380.2 | |
| Female | |||||||||
| All ages, age adjusted2 | 175.8 | 170.7 | 140.0 | 91.7 | 62.6 | 60.5 | 59.1 | 56.4 | |
| All ages, crude | 105.6 | 111.4 | 109.0 | 85.9 | 68.4 | 70.7 | 71.8 | 69.2 | |
| Under 1 year | 3.7 | 3.2 | 4.0 | 3.8 | 3.1 | 5.3 | 2.7 | 2.3 | |
| 1–4 years | 0.7 | 0.7 | 0.7 | 0.5 | 0.3 | 0.3 | 0.4 | 0.4 | |
| 5–14 years | 0.4 | 0.6 | 0.6 | 0.3 | 0.2 | 0.1 | 0.2 | 0.2 | |
| 15–24 years | 1.5 | 1.6 | 1.4 | 0.8 | 0.6 | 0.4 | 0.5 | 0.5 | |
| 25–34 years | 4.3 | 4.9 | 4.7 | 2.6 | 2.2 | 1.6 | 1.5 | 1.5 | |
| 35–44 years | 19.9 | 14.8 | 15.6 | 8.4 | 6.1 | 6.0 | 5.7 | 5.4 | |
| 45–54 years | 72.9 | 46.3 | 39.0 | 23.3 | 17.0 | 15.3 | 14.5 | 13.6 | |
| 55–64 years | 183.1 | 131.8 | 95.3 | 56.8 | 42.2 | 39.1 | 35.3 | 32.9 | |
| 65–74 years | 522.1 | 415.7 | 333.3 | 188.7 | 126.7 | 121.4 | 115.1 | 109.3 | |
| 75–84 years | 1,462.2 | 1,441.1 | 1,183.1 | 740.1 | 466.2 | 451.8 | 442.1 | 428.6 | |
| 85 years and over | 2,949.4 | 3,704.4 | 3,081.0 | 2,323.1 | 1,667.6 | 1,640.0 | 1,632.0 | 1,550.4 | |
| White male2 | |||||||||
| All ages, age adjusted2 | 182.1 | 181.6 | 153.7 | 98.7 | 65.5 | 62.9 | 59.8 | 56.5 | |
| All ages, crude | 100.5 | 102.7 | 93.5 | 63.1 | 46.9 | 48.0 | 48.4 | 46.6 | |
| 45–54 years | 53.7 | 40.9 | 35.6 | 21.7 | 15.4 | 14.7 | 13.6 | 12.7 | |
| 55–64 years | 182.2 | 139.0 | 119.9 | 64.0 | 45.7 | 44.2 | 39.7 | 36.1 | |
| 65–74 years | 569.7 | 501.0 | 420.0 | 239.8 | 152.9 | 142.1 | 133.8 | 128.5 | |
| 75–84 years | 1,556.3 | 1,564.8 | 1,361.6 | 852.7 | 539.2 | 503.8 | 480.0 | 458.8 | |
| 85 years and over | 3,127.1 | 3,734.8 | 3,018.1 | 2,230.8 | 1,545.4 | 1,536.0 | 1,490.7 | 1,386.2 | |
| Black or African American male3 | |||||||||
| All ages, age adjusted2 | 228.8 | 238.5 | 206.4 | 142.0 | 102.2 | 97.0 | 89.6 | 85.4 | |
| All ages, crude | 122.0 | 122.9 | 108.8 | 73.0 | 53.0 | 49.8 | 46.1 | 44.6 | |
| 45–54 years4 | 211.9 | 166.1 | 136.1 | 82.1 | 68.4 | 62.3 | 49.5 | 48.8 | |
| 55–64 years | 522.8 | 439.9 | 343.4 | 189.7 | 141.7 | 130.8 | 115.4 | 111.9 | |
| 65–74 years | 783.6 | 899.2 | 780.1 | 472.3 | 326.9 | 297.0 | 268.5 | 269.2 | |
| 75–84 years | 1,504.9 | 1,475.2 | 1,445.7 | 1,066.3 | 721.5 | 705.9 | 659.2 | 613.9 | |
| 85 years and over | - - - | 2,700.0 | 1,963.1 | 1,873.2 | 1,421.5 | 1,410.1 | 1,458.8 | 1,349.1 | |
… But Older Women Have More Chronic Diseases
Older women are more likely than men of the same age to suffer from chronic conditions, such as arthritis, osteoporosis and related bone fractures, AD, and incontinence. Women are also more likely to have more than one chronic disorder at a time (comorbidity). In One Final Gift: Humanizing the End of Life for Women in America, the AAR reported that within similar age groupings more older women than older men have functional and cognitive disabilities.
User Comments Add a comment…