Level of Education and Disability among the Elderly People from Buenos Aires

LAURA MALENA MONTEVERDE; ENRIQUE PELAEZ; DORA CELTON

Población y Salud en Mesoamérica

Centro Centroamericano de Población

Lugar: San José; Año: 2012 vol. 10 p. 1 - 17

1659-0201

The context in which ageing is occurring in Latin America and the Caribbean countries raises questions about future trajectories in the prevalence of disabilities by age. In this sense, it is of great importance to study the behaviour of the prevalence of disabilities and analyse the risk factors in populations of the region. The aim of this study is to analyze the association between the risk of experiencing disabilities and the level of formal education among people 60 years and over that lived in Buenos Aires in 2000. The data used come from the study "Health, Welfare and Aging"-SABE (Spanish acronym)- for Buenos Aires. Based on this information, we estimate the prevalence of disabilities by level of education and we analyse the effects of different risk factors on the likelihood of experiencing disability among individuals with different levels of education. The results show an inverse and strong correlation between educational level and the risk of experiencing disabilities in ADL (Activities of Daily Living) and IADL (Instrumental Activities of Daily Living) and the relationship would be partially mediated by health profiles of the individuals.