California Seniors' Health Detailed in UCLA Study. - Knight Ridder/Tribune Business News

By Nancy Weaver Teichert, The Sacramento Bee, Calif. Knight Ridder/Tribune Business News

Nov. 10--Older Latinos and people with limited English suffer from the poorest health and a lack of preventive health care, according to the first statewide look at the well-being of people 65 and older.

The Sacramento region mirrored similar higher rates of poorer health among Latinos and also among people on the Medi-Cal program.

The well-being of older people in the Sacramento region was comparable to the statewide averages in most categories, except for slightly higher rates of smoking and asthma.

Steven P. Wallace, the main author of the study, said those factors could be related, or poor air quality in the Valley may be harder on older people.

Overall, 30 percent of the state's 3.6 million older people say they have poor or only fair health compared to 44 percent among Latinos and 46 percent among limited-English-speaking seniors.

They suffer higher rates of diabetes and emotional problems along with lower rates of health insurance coverage and screenings that can diagnose health problems before they become serious.

The first county-by-county study of California's oldest population was conducted by the UCLA Center for Health Policy Research based on telephone surveys with 10,000 seniors who were part of the California Health Interview Survey of 2001.

Wallace said older people make more demands on the health care system than any other age group both statewide and locally.

'We want older people to remain healthy because that gives them a better quality of life,' said Wallace, associate director of the center and a professor of health sciences at the UCLA School of Public Health. But society also has an economic interest in their well-being.

'If we don't promote a healthier older population, we pay for it with increased costs to Medicare, Medicaid and other health services,' he said.

With state and local governments facing tough choices with how to spend limited resources, the findings can be used to focus expenditures on the biggest needs.

Surveys of people 65 and older also show that good health is a top priority contributing to their quality of life.

Older people often lack preventive health screenings that can end up costing more in both human suffering and health care costs.

One-third of older Californians don't get an annual flu shot, which is an effective low-cost measure to reduce the incidence of pneumonia and related health problems, Wallace said.

The reason may be that some are unaware of the availability of vaccinations at various clinics, or they may not be able to pay the $10 co-payment sometimes charged, the study said.

One-third of seniors don't see a dentist or dental hygienist during the year, contributing to needless suffering and more serious health complications.

The reason may be that Medicare does not cover routine dental care, so two in five seniors have no health coverage to pay for the exams, according to the study.

Older Latinos also reported lower rates of health screenings for diabetes and colon cancer -conditions that benefit from early diagnosis and treatments.

If diabetes is not adequately treated, it can lead to blindness, heart problems and circulatory problems that can result in amputations.

Diabetes is twice as common among older Latinos as among older whites, Wallace said. Commonly, the diabetes isn't diagnosed until help is sought for more serious health problems.

'They are more likely to face barriers in finding health services,' Wallace said.

Nadereh Pourat, co-author and a senior research scientist at the UCLA center, said patients who have to pay more out of pocket for care are more likely to delay going to a doctor until they have a more advanced condition.

Poverty may be a factor why older people in Tulare and Kings counties had the poorest health profiles, while older people in more affluent Marin County were the most healthy, the study found.

Poverty, inadequate health insurance and the lack of information about available health services all contribute to poorer health, the report said.

Wallace said doctors need to suggest preventive health care such as flu vaccinations and screenings for colon cancer starting at age 50.

Dr. Marc Schenker, chairman of the Department of Epidemiology and Preventive Medicine at UC Davis Medical Center, said he reached similar conclusions in his studies of health problems in California's Latino community.

'You see more deaths from preventable causes in Latino populations,' he said. While emergency care may be more easily found, people with lower incomes run into problems finding preventive health care, Schenker said.

The new UCLA study ranks counties and regions on health behaviors such as smoking and alcohol consumption and health status such as the incidence of diabetes, arthritis and cancer and access to medical care.

The report combines statistics on race and ethnicity with health data culled from the California Health Interview Survey 2001.

The 137-page report, 'Health of Older Californians: County Data Book,' was funded with grants from the Archstone Foundation and the California Endowment and is on the Web at www.healthpolicy.ucla.edu/ pubs/files/archstone_older_ californians.pdf.

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