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Ohio Senior Citizen Health Profile
Executive Summary
submitted by
Federation for Community Planning
Cleveland, Ohio
Terry Lenahan
research associate
George D. Weiner, PhD
principal investigator
June 29, 2001
U.S. Census Bureau demographers project that the number of older persons in Ohio will increase from a current 1.5
million to 2.3 million by 2025, an increase of 51.1 percent. Older persons (65 years and older) will comprise nearly
one in five Ohioans in 2025 (19.6 percent), up from the current 13.5 percent.
This report provides a descriptive summary of health insurance coverage, health care access and utilization, and
health care status of older persons (65 years and older) in Ohio using primarily the 1998 Ohio Family Health Survey
(OFHS) data. It examines disparities in health care access and utilization for at-risk, vulnerable, older persons in
Ohio including those in poor health, low income, and lacking prescription coverage.
The Gallup Organization conducted the 1998 Ohio Family Health Survey under contract with the Ohio Department
of Health (ODH). Each record was weighted to reflect the age, gender and racial distribution in each county.
People age 65 and over comprised 2,982 of the over 16,000 respondents (18 percent) to the survey; 1,184
respondents were 75 years and older. Most of these older respondents were white (2,705), but the database
includes 199 who characterized themselves as black and 62 who characterized themselves as some other race.
The sample represented more than 1.39 million older persons in Ohio.
Predisposing characteristics. More than a third of these older Ohioans were age 75 or older, 55 percent were
women, nearly one third were widowed, one in six were non-white, more than a quarter had no high school degree,
while almost one in eight had an associates degree or higher. Older persons in the suburbs had higher educational
attainment. Most non-white older persons resided in metropolitan counties.
Risk factors. Almost two-thirds of older Ohioans were over-weight or obese, nearly two of five reported no regular
exercise, and one in seven smoked.
Enabling characteristics. Fifty-six percent of older Ohioans had family incomes below 200 percent of the federal
poverty level (FPL), nearly three in ten had no prescription coverage, and more than one in eight had no ?medical
home,? that is, a regular source of care other than the emergency room. The prevalence of prescription coverage
was higher among better-educated, higher income persons. Conversely, the burden of high out-or-pocket cost
prescription medications was greatest for those least able to afford them.
Measures of access. Only two percent of older persons reported unmet health needs in prior 12 months, and
fewer than three percent used the emergency department as their primary source of care, far less than the adult
population in general.
Measures of utilization. Almost one in eight reported no health professional visits in the prior 12 months ?
surprisingly high, although lower than the rate for all adults (20 percent). More than half of older persons reported
no dental visits in prior year. About one in five had one or more emergency
department visits. Among women, about two-thirds had no PAP test in prior 12 months, and more than half had no mammogram.
Health status. More than a quarter of older Ohioans reported being in
poor-fair health, almost three of five reported one or more chronic conditions, and more than one in eight had some limitations in activities of
daily living (ADLs). The mean physical health score (as measured by the SF12 questions) was below the norm of 50, while
the mental health score was well above the norm.
Although regional disparities were small enough to be obscured by relatively
small sample sizes, significant variation existed for other variables ? lower
family income (below 200 percent of the FPL) was more prevalent among persons age 75 and over, women, non-white persons, and the less
educated. Persons age 75 and over, non-white, or below 200 percent of FPL were less likely to have had even one dentist visit. White respondents
averaged more health professional visits than non-whites despite generally
better health status. Poorer women (less than 200 percent of FPL) were less likely to have had a Pap test or mammogram. Poorer respondents were
more apt to rate their health as poor-fair.
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