Longevity: Social Aspects

A crucial question is whether individual lives are increasing in length and quality: are people Table 2 Death rates, percentage of deaths by cause, and numbers of deaths for both sexes (all races and ages), United States, 1998 SOURCE: Adapted from: Murphy, S. L. "Deaths: Final Data for 1998." Monthly Vital Statistics Report 48 (2000): 1–108. not only living longer, but enjoying additional years of health and functional ability, or are they experiencing more chronic conditions and physical disability? Fortunately, most recent research suggests that individuals are enjoying longer years with better health (see Rogers, Rogers, and Belanger). However, there are also race/ethnic differences in this relationship, such that African-Americans and Native Americans live many of these additional years in poor health (Hayward and Heron).