Aging in Arizona: Health Status of Older Arizonans

"Provides a comprehensive view of the health status, morbidity, and mortality among Arizonans 65 years of age and older. Designed to be a resource for those ... developing and implementing health policy for an increasingly aged populace, this report draws from multiple resources on the health, illness, and mortality of Arizona's older adults. Population estimates and projections were used to examine Arizona's current population composition by age and race/ethnicity as well as to estimate how Arizona's population structure will change over the next 40 years ... [T]he health behaviors and chronic disease burden experienced by Arizona's seniors were examined using the 2012 Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System (BRFSS) ... 2012 Hospital Discharge Data (HDD) was used to summarize emergency room (ER) and inpatient discharges by first-listed diagnosis separated by gender ... [T]he leading causes of death for Arizonans age 65 and older were identified separately by gender in 2012, with recent trends (2002-2012) ... also being analyzed ... In Arizona, the total population is expected to increase about 80 percent from ... 2010 to ... 2050, while the number of Arizonans age 65 and older is expected to increase 174 percent ... As the proportion of Arizonans age 65 and over increases, so will the racial/ethnic diversity ... [T]he findings of this report suggest that ... primary prevention strategies focused on reducing socioeconomic health disparities and increasing the availability and success of physical, intellectual, and social activities will become increasingly important as means of reducing the population health burden of chronic diseases associated with aging. Further developing our capacity to provide health services to older adults also will increase in importance, but the ability to prevent the development of costly chronic diseases and morbidities associated with aging will be the most successful method of reducing the overall costs of maintaining a healthy aging population"--Executive summary