TY - JOUR T1 - Midlife trends in activities and disability JF - Journal of Aging and Health Y1 - 2014 A1 - Verbrugge, Lois M. A1 - Xian Li KW - Demographics KW - Disabilities KW - Event History/Life Cycle KW - Health Conditions and Status KW - Methodology KW - Other AB - Objectives: This is the first analysis that demonstrates empirically the likely tie between activities (time spent) and disability (health-related difficulty in activities). We compare trends in activities and disability for Americans ages 55 to 69 in recent years, and assess cross-sectional linkages of activities and disability. Methods: Data are from the Health and Retirement Study, a longitudinal survey of community-dwelling U.S. adults. Trends are estimated by mixed-effects regression models (MRMs) with time, age, and time-age interaction predictors. Links of activities and disability also use MRM. Results: For midlife adults, hobbies/leisure and sports/exercise increased, repairs/yard decreased, and several activities had convex patterns; by contrast, disability prevalence was stable. Personal care hours rise with disability, but most activities decline. Discussion: Activities are more dynamic than disability, and time use is associated with disability. Taken together, the results encourage broader activities in disability measures to capture better disability's scope and dynamics. PB - 26 VL - 26 IS - 2 N1 - Times Cited: 0 U4 - activities/midlife/trends/disability/disability/LIFE-STYLE ACTIVITIES/TIME USE SURVEY/OLDER-ADULTS/UNITED-STATES/RHEUMATOID-ARTHRITIS/ACTIVITY PATTERNS/FUNCTIONAL LIMITATION/PRODUCTIVE ACTIVITY/PHYSICAL-ACTIVITY/AGE-DIFFERENCES ER -