Challenges and barriers to health care and overall health in older residents of Alaska: evidence from a national survey

Julia D. Foutz, Steven A. Cohen, Sarah K. Cook
2016 International Journal of Circumpolar Health  
Background. From 1970 to 2010, the Alaskan population increased from 302,583 to 698,473. During that time, the growth rate of Alaskan seniors (65') was 4 times higher than their national counterparts. Ageing in Alaska requires confronting unique environmental, sociodemographic and infrastructural challenges, including an extreme climate, geographical isolation and less developed health care infrastructure compared to the continental US. Objective. The objective of this analysis is to compare
more » ... health needs of Alaskan seniors to those in the continental US. Design. We abstracted 315,161 records of individuals age 65' from the 2013 and 2014 Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System, of which 1,852 were residents of Alaska. To compare residents of Alaska to residents of the 48 contiguous states we used generalized linear models which allowed us to adjust for demographic differences and survey weighting procedures. We examined 3 primary outcomes Á general health status, health care coverage status and length of time since last routine check-up. Results. Alaskan seniors were 59% less likely to have had a routine check-up in the past year and 12% less likely to report excellent health status than comparable seniors in the contiguous US. Conclusions. Given the growth rate of Alaskan seniors and inherent health care challenges this vulnerable population faces, future research should examine the specific pathways through which these disparities occur and inform policies to ensure that all US seniors, regardless of geographical location, have access to highquality health services.
doi:10.3402/ijch.v75.30348 pmid:27056177 pmcid:PMC4824845 fatcat:3mejrnazhnesrf3zt3uiv4acnq