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An epidemiological transition of health conditions, and health status of the old-old-to-oldest-old in Jamaica: A comparative analysis

Background: There is a paucity of information on the old-old-to-oldest-old in Jamaica. In spite of studies on this cohort, there has never been an examination of the epidemiological transition in health condition affect this age cohort. Objectives: The aims of the current study are 1) provide an epidemiological profile of health conditions affecting Jamaicans 75+ years, 2) examine whether there is an epidemiological transition in health conditions affecting old-old-to-oldest-old Jamaicans, 3) evaluate particular demographic characteristics and health conditions of this cohort, 4) assess whether current self-reported illness is strongly correlated with current health status, 5) mean age of those with particular health conditions, 6) model health status and 7) provide valuable information upon which health practitioners and public health specialists can make more informed decisions. Method: The current study utilized a sub-sample of approximately 4% from each national cross-sectional survey that was conducted in 2002 and 2007. The sub-sample was 282 people ages 75+ years from the 6,783 respondents surveyed for 2007 and 1,069 people ages 75+ years from the 25,018 respondents surveyed for 2002. Results: In 2007, 44% of old-to-oldest-old Jamaicans were diagnosed with hypertension, which represents a 5% decline over 2002. The number of cases of diabetes mellitus increased over 570% in the studied period. The poor indicated having more health conditions than the poorest 20% of the sample. Conclusion: The implications of the shift in health conditions will create a health disparity between 75+ year adults and the rest of the population.