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Startlingly large numbers among the elderly consider themselves to be discriminated against, and a disproportionate number believe it is because of their age, a new study shows. Most importantly, stress-induced depression is tied to poorer health outcomes.
The study, published in Research on Aging, claims that 63% of older people claim to encounter discrimination. 30% of the total surveyed population believe their discrimination stems from their age, while gender, race, disabilities, or appearance account for the rest. The information was drawn from a national database from the federal Health and Retirement Study, which queried 6400 people over the age of 53 every two years, beginning in 2006.
The key finding is that the figures from 2008 -- two years after the original survey -- showed that those who experience higher levels of discrimination suffer poorer health outcomes in the form of greater depression and lower self-rated health. The study controlled for other causes of stress, such as financial problems, traumatic events, and chronic illness.
Another surprising finding is that discrimination takes a greater toll when it takes the form of "everyday slights and suspicions," as opposed to longer-term stress-inducing stimuli such as traumatic events. Presumably, this is because longer-term issues can be coped with over time, whereas everyday slights may be an offense 'of a thousand cuts.'
2010 data is now available, and researchers are looking forward to gaining greater insight into the connection between age discrimination and health outcomes.
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