Elderly Report Rising Rates of Disability After 20-Year Decline - BusinessWeek

(HealthDay News) -- The disability rate among U.S. senior citizens is on the rise, a surprise considering the rate had been falling since the 1980s, new research has found.

"People are living longer, but many are also living sicker," study co-author Amani Nuru-Jeter, an assistant professor of community health and human development at the University of California Berkeley School of Public Health, said in a university news release. "This study is providing an early warning sign that the decline in disability rates we've been hearing about might be ending."

After analyzing the period from 2000-2005, the researchers found a 9 percent increase in the number of non-institutionalized people aged 65 and older who said they have difficulty handling day-to-day activities, including dressing and bathing, because of a problem lasting six months or more.

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