TY - JOUR T1 - Heavy alcohol use and marital dissolution in the USA. JF - Soc Sci Med Y1 - 2005 A1 - Ostermann, Jan A1 - Frank A Sloan A1 - Donald H. Taylor Jr. KW - Alcohol Drinking KW - Alcohol-Related Disorders KW - Divorce KW - Female KW - Health Status KW - Humans KW - Male KW - Middle Aged KW - Social Class KW - United States AB -

Using the first five waves of the US Health and Retirement Study, a nationally representative survey of middle-aged persons in the USA conducted between 1992 and 2000, we assessed the association between alcohol consumption and separation and divorce (combined as divorced in the analysis) for 4589 married couples during up to four repeated 2-yr follow-up periods. We found that drinking status was positively correlated between spouses. The correlations did not increase over the follow-up period. Discrepancies in alcohol consumption between spouses were more closely related to the probability of subsequent divorce than consumption levels per se. Couples with two abstainers and couples with two heavy drinkers had the lowest rates of divorce. Couples with one heavy drinker were most likely to divorce. Controlling for current consumption levels, a history of problem drinking by either spouse was not significantly associated with an increased probability of divorce. Our findings on alcohol use and marital dissolution were highly robust in alternative specifications.

PB - 61 VL - 61 IS - 11 U1 - http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/16139939?dopt=Abstract U4 - Alcohol Abuse/Marital Dissolution/Marriage/Divorce/Drinking Behavior ER - TY - JOUR T1 - Effects of Risk and Time Preference and Expected Longevity on Demand for Medical Tests JF - Journal of Risk and Uncertainty Y1 - 2004 A1 - Gabriel A. Picone A1 - Frank A Sloan A1 - Donald H. Taylor Jr. KW - Expectations KW - Health Conditions and Status KW - Healthcare AB - Despite their conceptual importance, the effects of time preference, expected longevity, uncertainty, and risk aversion on behavior have not been analyzed empirically. We use data from the Health and Retirement Study (HRS) to assess the role of risk and time preference, expected longevity, and education on demand for three measures used for early detection of breast and cervical cancer—regular breast self-exams, mammograms, and Pap smears. We find that individuals with a higher life expectancy and lower time preference are more likely to undergo cancer screening. Less risk averse individuals tend to be more likely to undergo testing. PB - 28 VL - 28 U4 - Subjective expectations/Longevity/Health Care Utilization ER - TY - BOOK T1 - The Price of Smoking Y1 - 2004 A1 - Frank A Sloan A1 - Ostermann, Jan A1 - Gabriel A. Picone A1 - Conover, Christopher A1 - Donald H. Taylor Jr. KW - Consumption and Savings KW - Health Conditions and Status PB - MIT Press CY - Cambridge, MA U4 - Smoking/Costs ER - TY - BOOK T1 - Parsing the Smoking Puzzle: Information, Risk Perception, and Choice Y1 - 2003 A1 - Frank A Sloan A1 - Donald H. Taylor Jr. A1 - V. Kerry Smith KW - Consumption and Savings KW - Health Conditions and Status KW - Healthcare KW - Methodology KW - Public Policy KW - Risk Taking AB - Examines how perceptions of the risks of smoking are updated as older individuals receive new personalized information and how risk perceptions affect smoking behavior. Highlights the potential for reducing cigarette consumption using a message about a smoker's quality of life at the end of life. Based on data collected in the Health and Retirement Study (HRS), a national panel survey conducted by the University of Michigan's Institute for Social Research on adults aged fifty one to sixty one in the baseline year of the survey (1992), and on information from focus group meetings and interviews with current or former smokers. Surveys government policy and industry advertising with regard to smoking over the past fifty to one hundred years and their effectiveness in influencing cigarette demand. Summarizes existing knowledge and HRS findings on the effects of smoking on mortality and morbidity. Focuses on the survey respondent's assessment of the probability that they will live to age seventy five; examines how well individuals predict their own survival; and explores how people use new information about their own health to update their longevity expectations. Presents new information on smoking cessation and relapse patterns in older adults, paying special attention to the impact of health shocks. Considers whether it is possible to design information messages that mimic the information conveyed to middle aged smokers by personal health shocks and investigates the factors that may make a message especially salient for smokers. Incorporates new findings into an economic analysis of the demand for cigarettes and evaluates the potential impact of a new information policy on daily cigarette consumption of smokers in the sixth and seventh decade of life. Presents policy implications. Sloan is at Duke University. Smith is at North Carolina State University. Taylor is at the Stanford Institute of Public Policy, Duke University. Index. PB - Harvard University Press CY - Cambridge, MA UR - https://www.hup.harvard.edu/catalog.php?isbn=9780674010390 U4 - Smoking/Risk Behavior/Health Education/General Welfare/Basic Needs/Living Standards/Quality of Life/Health Production/Health/Econometric and Statistical Methods ER - TY - JOUR T1 - The role of smoking and other modifiable lifestyle risk factors in maintaining and restoring lower body mobility in middle-aged and older Americans: results from the HRS and AHEAD. Health and Retirement Study. Asset and Health Dynamics Among the Oldest Ol JF - J Am Geriatr Soc Y1 - 2002 A1 - Truls Ostbye A1 - Donald H. Taylor Jr. A1 - Katrina M. Krause A1 - Scoyoc, L.V. KW - Age Distribution KW - Aged KW - Aged, 80 and over KW - Alcohol Drinking KW - Body Mass Index KW - Exercise KW - Female KW - Humans KW - Leg KW - Logistic Models KW - Longitudinal Studies KW - Male KW - Marital Status KW - Middle Aged KW - Risk Factors KW - Sex Distribution KW - Smoking KW - Smoking cessation KW - United States KW - Walking AB -

OBJECTIVES: To analyze the effect of smoking, smoking cessation, and other modifiable risk factors on mobility in middle-aged and older Americans.

DESIGN: Panel study; secondary data analysis.

SETTING: United States (national sample).

PARTICIPANTS: The Health and Retirement Study (HRS) includes data on 12,652 Americans aged 50 to 61 in four waves (1992-1998). The Asset and Health Dynamics Among the Oldest Old (AHEAD) survey followed 8,124 community-dwelling people aged 70 years and older in three waves (1993-1998).

MEASUREMENTS: The relationships between the primary outcome measure, lower body mobility (ability to walk several blocks and walk up one flight of stairs without difficulty), and smoking, exercise (HRS only), body mass index (BMI), and alcohol use were estimated in bivariate and multivariate analyses.

RESULTS: Not smoking was strongly positively related to mobility, and the relative effects were similar in both panels. Among those with impaired mobility at baseline, not smoking was also strongly related to recovery. In the middle aged, there were consistent dose-response relationships between amount smoked and impaired mobility. Fifteen years after quitting, the risk of impaired mobility returned to that of never smokers. There was also a strong dose-response relationship between level of exercise and mobility. Inverted U-shaped relationships with mobility were observed for BMI and alcohol consumption.

CONCLUSIONS: The relationships between not smoking and lower body mobility in middle-aged and older Americans are strong and consistent. Interventions aimed at reducing smoking have the potential to preserve mobility and thereby prolong health and independence in later life.

PB - 50 VL - 50 IS - 4 U1 - http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/11982670?dopt=Abstract U4 - Middle Aged Adults/Smoking/Mobility Difficulty/Exercise ER - TY - CHAP T1 - Are Smokers Too Optimistic? T2 - The Economic Analysis of Substance Use and Abuse: The Experience of Developed Countries and Lessons for Developing Countries Y1 - 2001 A1 - Frank A Sloan A1 - Donald H. Taylor Jr. ED - Michael Grossman ED - Chee-Ruey Hsieh KW - Consumption and Savings KW - Health Conditions and Status JF - The Economic Analysis of Substance Use and Abuse: The Experience of Developed Countries and Lessons for Developing Countries PB - Edward Elgar Publishing Limited CY - Cheltenham, UK UR - https://www.e-elgar.com/shop/usd/the-economic-analysis-of-substance-use-and-abuse-9781840646252.html N1 - ProCite field 6 : In ProCite field 8 : eds. U4 - Smoking/Costs and Cost Analysis ER - TY - JOUR T1 - Do Smokers Respond to Health Shocks? JF - The Review of Economics and Statistics Y1 - 2001 A1 - V. Kerry Smith A1 - Donald H. Taylor Jr. A1 - Frank A Sloan A1 - Desvousges, William H. A1 - F. Reed Johnson KW - Health Conditions and Status AB - This paper reports the first effort to use data to evaluate how new information, acquired through exogenous health shocks, affects people's longevity expectations. We find that smokers react differently to health shocks than do those who quit smoking or never smoked. These differences, together with insights from qualitative research conducted along with the statistical analysis, suggest specific changes in the health warnings used to reduce smoking. Our specific focus is on how current smokers responded to health information in comparison to former smokers and nonsmokers. The three groups use significantly different updating rules to revise their assessments about longevity. The most significant finding of our study documents that smokers differ from persons who do not smoke in how information influences their personal longevity expectations. When smokers experience smoking-related health shocks, they interpret this information as reducing their chances of living to age 75 or more. Our estimated models imply smokers update their longevity expectations more dramatically than either former smokers or those who never smoked. Smokers are thus assigning a larger risk equivalent to these shocks. They do not react comparably to general health shocks, implying that specific information about smoking-related health events is most likely to cause them to update beliefs. It remains to be evaluated whether messages can be designed that focus on the link between smoking and health outcomes in ways that will have comparable effects on smokers' risk perceptions. PB - 83 VL - 83 IS - 4 U4 - Smoking/Health Shocks/Longevity ER - TY - JOUR T1 - Longevity Expectations and Death: Can People Predict Their Own Demise? JF - The American Economic Review Y1 - 2001 A1 - V. Kerry Smith A1 - Frank A Sloan A1 - Donald H. Taylor Jr. KW - Expectations KW - Health Conditions and Status PB - 91 VL - 91 UR - https://www.jstor.org/stable/2677832 IS - 4 U4 - Expectations of Future Events/Mortality/Morbidity ER - TY - JOUR T1 - Formation of Trusts and Spend Down to Medicaid JF - The Journals of Gerontology: Social Sciences Y1 - 1999 A1 - Donald H. Taylor Jr. A1 - Frank A Sloan A1 - Edward C Norton KW - Adult children KW - Demographics KW - Health Conditions and Status KW - Healthcare KW - Medicare/Medicaid/Health Insurance KW - Methodology KW - Net Worth and Assets AB - OBJECTIVE: To identify the proportion of community-dwelling elderly persons (70 ) who could affect their eligibility for Medicaid financing of a nursing home stay through the use of a trust and to quantify the prevalence and predictors of trusts. METHODS: State-specific Medicaid eligibility regulations were used to determine eligibility and to identify those who could affect the same through the use of trusts. Multivariate logistic regression was used to identify correlates of having a trust. Wave 1 of the Assets and Health Dynamics of the Oldest Old (AHEAD) data base was used. RESULTS: Four in 10 elderly community dwellers could potentially qualify for Medicaid by using a trust; however, less than 10 had a trust. On average, wealthier persons had trusts. Avoidance of probate and controlling assets after death appear to be stronger motivations for trust creation among the elderly than achieving Medicaid spend down. DISCUSSION: The use of trusts was not common, and motives other than spend down were more important for those with trusts. Our results suggest little need for policy efforts to limit the use of trusts to achieve spend down. PB - 54B VL - 54B UR - https://watermark.silverchair.com/54B-4-S194.pdf?token=AQECAHi208BE49Ooan9kkhW_Ercy7Dm3ZL_9Cf3qfKAc485ysgAAArkwggK1BgkqhkiG9w0BBwagggKmMIICogIBADCCApsGCSqGSIb3DQEHATAeBglghkgBZQMEAS4wEQQMp0UUg1PuPyPtW2TQAgEQgIICbKvSCKf7gEQSGvy-WxqpuojGLR3OKgcObNMZ3E6gB4hR IS - 4 U4 - Aged, 80 and Over/Assets/Eligibility Determination/Financing, Personal/Homes for the Aged/Intergenerational Transfers/Medicaid/Nursing Homes/Support, U.S. Government--PHS/United States ER -