Predictors of transitions in disease and disability in pre- and early-retirement populations

Objectives: This study analyzed rates of prevalence and incidence of. and t ransitions in, disease and disability statuses of those aged 51 to 61 years and the predictors of the transition outcomes-remaining free of disease or disability, getting better, or getting worse-over a 2-year period. Methods : Data from the 1992 and 1994 interview waves of the Health and Retirement Study were used for gender-separate binary and multinomial logistic regress ion analyses. Results: Despite high prevalence and incidence rates of chron ic disease and functional limitations, the improvement rates in disabilitie s were also high. For both genders, age, years of education, health-related behaviors, and comorbidity factors were significant predictors of the tran sition outcomes. Discussion: The significance of health-related behaviors a s predictors of transitions suggests that lifestyle factors may have a bigg er influence on this age group than on older groups.