Table 1.

Demographics and Health Characteristics Among HRS Respondents ≥67 Years of Age Included in the Study Cohort

Total observations, n	45 335
Demographics
Mean age, y	76.7
Male, %	41.9
Black/other race, %	9.1
Married, %	53.6
Less than high school education, %	28.5
Above median wealth, %	54.4
Health status, %
Self-reported health fair/poor	32.6
1 + ADL	16.9
Self-reported AMI	3.1
Self-reported heart problems	33.1
Mental status, %
Self-rated memory fair/poor	29.0
Below 25th percentile word recall	19.4
Moderate/severe cognitive impairment	1.5

The study population included only those HRS respondents who had agreed to the use of their Medicare claims for research purpose and had at least 2 years of continuous traditional (fee-for-service) Medicare claims before the interview date. Each interview contributed an observation to the analysis. 1+ADL indicates difficulty with at least 1 of the following activities: eating, dressing, or bathing. Quartile of word recall was determined among the overall (unweighted) population ≥67 years of age. Moderate to severe cognitive impairment was determined on the basis of a score of ≤7 on a 35-point overall cognitive score. Only those respondents who reported heart problems were asked about taking heart medications. All percentages were calculated with population weights. ADL indicates activities of daily living; AMI, acute myocardial infarction; and HRS, Health and Retirement Study.