PREDICTING THE FREQUENCY OF SENIOR CENTER ATTENDANCE

The frequency of senior center attendance was studied using the 1 984 Supplement on Aging of the National Health Interview Survey. Unlike pr evious research, which focused on whether people ever attend a senior center, this study estimates a multinomial logistic regression model t o distinguish between persons who rarely, sometimes, and frequently at tend. There is evidence that the more frequent users are older, which may indicate difficulty in recruiting new active members. Greater freq uency is associated with lower income and lower education but is unrel ated to functional disability. The most frequent users are persons who are more socially involved. Finally, those who live in rural areas ar e more likely to be only occasional users, which may reflect a lack of accessibility or less frequent program availability in those areas.