Abstract
This study examined the two-year death transition of the different status of activities of daily living (ADLs) among the elderly who were aged 70 and over. The study used the data from the Assets and Health Dynamics of the Oldest Old (AHEAD) data set, which contains a nationally representative sample within subgroups of the non-institutionalized population of the United States. Multiple logistic regression analyses were applied for each sex while socio-demographic factors were controlled. We found that both men and women with a higher number of ADL limitations indicated higher odds for death within two years compared with people without ADL limitations at the baseline interview (p<0.01). A significant higher odds ratio was also indicated for the death of people who had ADL limitations compared with the people without any ADL limitations in some ADL categories. There were somewhat different results between men and women. Different functional status for men and women at the baseline might result in the different death outcomes.
