Abstract:

This research provides empirically-based, detailed information on race as a determinant of the relationship between chronic illness/disability and assistive device use by elderly persons. The database is the 1994 wave of the National Long Term Care Survey. The important findings are: 1. whites are more likely to use home modification devices and blacks are more likely to use portable devices, 2. chronic conditions vary in their influence on the use of assistive devices, 3. the joint presence of diabetes, heart conditions or hypertension with ADLs and IADLs motivates greater assistive device use, 4. the relationships between chronic health conditions and assistive device use vary by race, 5. for blacks, income has the largest impact on assistive device purchases, and 6. half of the racial differences in the probability of using assistive devices is explained by differences in sociodemographic characteristics and the rest is explained, in part, by discrimination.