OLDER WOMEN
From 1980 to 2000, the remaining life expectancy for
a woman aged 65 increased from 18.3 to 19.2 years. As life
expectancy
has lengthened, so has the proportion of the population
comprised of older women. In 2001, there were 19.1 million
women aged
65 and older, representing 13.6 percent of the female population.
These women outnumbered men by larger proportions as ages
increased, comprising 54.8 percent of people aged 65 to
74 and 67.9 percent of people aged 85 and over.
Although
the frequency of certain health problems and the need
for care increases among women as they age, in 2000
more than 35 percent of women aged 65 and older
lived in a household alone, while 57.4 percent lived with other family members
or non-relatives. Only 5.6 percent of women aged 65 and older resided in
a nursing home in 2000.
The Centers for Disease Control
and Prevention also recommends that adults aged 65 and
older have an annual influenza
(flu) vaccination as well as a pneumococcal
vaccination at least once. In 2001, 61.7 percent of women over 65 reported
having
a flu shot in the past year and 53.6 percent reported they have ever had
a pneumonia shot. The rates of women receiving these
vaccinations were highest
among non-Hispanic
White women, while non-Hispanic Black women and Hispanic women reported
the lowest rates.
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