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Studying Disability Trends in Aging Populations

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Abstract

This article reviews the current literature on disability trends in aging populations and proposes a framework for studying disability trends built upon existing models of disablement. In addition to considering disablement and its associated factors, our framework also includes factors at population level and the interplays among personal resources and health behaviors, intervention programs, technological advances, and the consequences of disability trends in the context of life course and socio-ecological perspective. The framework is abbreviated FE-BRIT-SE to denote individual-level (F)ixed attributes, including genetic factors, personality, age, sex, and earlier life conditions, and the (E)nvironment; individual (B)ehaviors, (R)esources, (I)nterventions, (T)echnology; and (S)ocioeconomic and (E)cological consequences of disability trends. The overview offers an integrated framework for understanding the disablement process, trends and their complex milieu of causes and consequences.

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Acknowledgments

R.D-R’s work was partly supported by Grants CSO2010-18925 from the Ministry of Science and Innovation. We are grateful to Professor Qiushi Feng at National University of Singapore, Dr. Alexander M. Kulminski at Duke University, and two anonymous reviewers.

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None.

Authors’ Contributions

D.G. and initiated and designed the study. D.G and R.G-R. conducted the literature view, drafted, and revised the manuscript. M.E.D. assisted in drafting and revising the manuscript.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Population Division, United Nations, Two United Nations Plaza, DC2-1910, New York, NY, 10017, USA

    Danan Gu

  2. Faculty of Political Sciences and Sociology, Universidad Nacional de Educacion a Distancia (UNED, Madrid, Spain

    Rosa Gomez-Redondo

  3. Department of Community and Family Medicine, and Department of Sociology, Duke University, Durham, USA

    Matthew E. Dupre

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  1. Danan Gu
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  2. Rosa Gomez-Redondo
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Correspondence to Danan Gu.

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Gu, D., Gomez-Redondo, R. & Dupre, M.E. Studying Disability Trends in Aging Populations. J Cross Cult Gerontol 30, 21–49 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10823-014-9245-6

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