Antecedents of mortality among the old-age assistance population

This research is concerned with patterns of mortality and related risk conditions among noninstitutionalized recipients of old-age assistance. Survival status was determined by followup interviews in the 1974 Survey of the Low Income Aged and Disabled. Data obtained in initial interviews a year earlier were used as antecedent variables in the analysis. The general hypothesis that the overall death rate of recipients would be higher than the rate of persons aged 65 or older in the general population was not supported. Older white men had a significantly lower death rate than their population contemporaries. The opposite pattern was observed for older men other than white who had higher rates than their population contemporaries. Factors with significant association with mortality that were suggested by logit analysis included previous employment in construction industries, advanced age, greater household density, male sex, cancer, and heart trouble. Recipients who had lost the capacity to dress and were isolated from local support were also more likely to die. Survival factors included previous occupation as a farm operator, functional activity, and the ability to bathe and to care for self when ill.