Page 1 Page 2 Page 3 Page 4 Page 5 Page 6 Page 7 Page 8 Page 9 Page 10 Page 11 Page 12 Page 13 Page 14 Page 15 Page 16 Page 17 Page 18 Page 19 Page 20 Page 21 Page 22 Page 23 Page 24 Page 25 Page 26 Page 27 Page 28 Page 29 Page 30 Page 31 Page 32 Page 33 Page 34 Page 35 Page 36 Page 37 Page 38 Page 39 Page 40 Page 41 Page 42 Page 43 Page 44 Page 45 Page 46 Page 47 Page 48 Page 49 Page 50 Page 51 Page 52 Page 53 Page 54 Page 55 Page 56 Page 57 Page 58 Page 59 Page 60 Page 61 Page 62 Page 63 Page 64 Page 65 Page 66 Page 67 Page 68 Page 69 Page 70 Page 71 Page 72 Page 73 Page 74 Page 75 Page 76 Page 77 Page 78 Page 79 Page 80 Page 81 Page 82 Page 83 Page 84 Page 85 Page 86 Page 87 Page 88 Page 89 Page 90 Page 91 Page 92 Page 93 Page 94 Page 95 Page 96 Page 97 Page 98 Page 99 Page 100 Page 101 Page 102 Page 103 Page 104 Page 105 Page 106 Page 107 Page 108H EALT H 38 arthritis and other musculoskeletal conditions (47 percent), followed by cardiovascular conditions (16 percent), neurological problems (8 percent), and allergies and respiratory problems (7 percent). As the HRS proceeds, it is likely that more sensitive analyses will be conducted on people’s ability to continue working should they either need to or want to work longer. HRS data show that job loss not only results in economic consequences, but also can impact a person’s health. Involuntary job loss was perceived to negatively affect both physical functioning and mental health. Likewise, becoming re-employed was found to be positively associated with improved physical functioning and mental health. Such results led researchers to argue for a causal relationship between job loss and morbidity among older workers, and to suggest that there is a significant health consequence to job loss in addition to the obvious economic consequences (Gallo et al. 2000). The links among health, work, and retirement offer a rich area of investigation, and are discussed more thoroughly in Chapter 2. Health Status of U.S. Versus English Older Adults The HRS has helped spawn the development of similar multidisciplinary, longitudinal studies of health and retirement in other countries. A com- parison of HRS data with data from one of these studies, the English Longitudinal Study of Ageing (ELSA), has revealed important health-status differences—and important similarities—between White middle-aged Americans and their English counterparts (Banks et al. 2006). The research used the study participants’ self-reports of health and biological measures to measure health status. The study revealed that White Americans ages 55 to 64 are not as healthy as their English counter- parts, and in both countries lower income and ed- ucation levels were associated with poorer health. The healthiest Americans in the study—those in the highest income and education levels—had rates of diabetes and heart disease similar to the least healthy in England—those in the lowest income and education levels. In addition, the lowest income and education group in each country reported the most cases of diabetes, hypertension, heart disease, heart at- tacks, stroke, and chronic lung disease, while the highest income and education groups reported the least. The only disease for which this inverse relationship was not true was cancer. Banks and colleagues also found that differences between the two countries in smoking, obesity, and alcohol use explained little of the difference. In a report published in the Journal of the American Medical Association (Banks et al. 2006), the researchers noted that the health-status differences they un- covered existed despite greater U.S. health care expenditures, similar patterns in life expectancy between the two countries, and the fact that smoking behavior in the two countries is similar. 0% Arthritis Hypertension Heart Condition Diabetes Psychiatric/ Emotional Problem Cancer Chronic Lung Disease Stroke 5% 10% 15% 20% 25% 30% 35% 40% 45% FIG. 1-16 health conditions among workers age 55 and over: 2002