I. Data:
1. ICPSR: The Inter-University Consortium for Political and Social Research
has updated Study # 2592, NATIONAL SURVEY OF SELF-CARE AND AGING:
FOLLOW-UP, 1994. "Part 4, Combined Baseline and Follow-Up Data, has been
added, and the codebook and SAS and SPSS data definition statements have
been revised accordingly." For more information about the survey:
http://www.icpsr.umich.edu/cgi-bin/ab.prl?file=2592
The survey and its documentation are freely available to the public.
http://www.icpsr.umich.edu/archive1.html
and enter 2592 in the "Study #" search box.
This study is a followup to Study # 6718 NATIONAL SURVEY OF SELF-CARE AND AGING:
BASELINE, 1990-1991, which is also freely available to the public.
http://www.icpsr.umich.edu/archive1.html
and enter 6718 in the "Study #" search box.
Note to Univ of Wisconsin CDAH members: Both of these studies are available
in the CDE data library. (CDECAT and codebook # 1455.00 and 1456.00).
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II. Reports and articles
2. NCHS--REPORT: The National Center for Health Statistics has released _Health,
United States, 1999_. (.pdf format, 323p.). Also available are 146 Lotus or
Excel spreadsheet tables. Highlight of this year's release is a 180p. Health
and Aging Chartbook that can be downloaded as part of the main publication or
separately.
http://www.cdc.gov/nchswww/products/pubs/pubd/hus/hus.htm
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3. _MORBIDITY AND MORTALITY WEEKLY REPORT_--ARTICLE: Reasons Reported by Medicare
Beneficiaries for Not Receiving Influenza and Pneumococcal Vaccinations -- United
States, 1996 (October 08, 1999 / 48(39);886-890)
http://www.cdc.gov/epo/mmwr/preview/mmwrhtml/mm4839a4.htm
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4. MEDSCAPE GENERAL MEDICINE--ARTICLE: "How Fast Can the Racial Gap in
Life Expectancy Between Whites and Blacks Be Eliminated?" by Hong Wang,
Patrick L. Remington, and David A. Kindig (September 23, 1999, HTML format).
>From the Abstract:
The racial gap in life expectancy between whites and blacks fluctuated from
7.6 to 5.7 years from 1970-1996, but the causes of this gap and the years required
to eliminate it remain unclear. This paper analyzes the leading causes of death
and how they contribute to the racial gap in life expectancy, and estimates
the number of years required to eliminate this gap.
http://www.medscape.com/Medscape/GeneralMedicine/journal/1999/v01.n09/mgm0923.wang/mgm0923.wang-01.html
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5. MEDSCAPE GENERAL MEDICINE--ARTICLE: "Lessons Learned From the Terminally,
Critically Ill Patient Who Demands to Live as Long as Possible," by Ware
G. Kuschner (October 12, 1999, HTML format).
>From the Abstract:
A 67-year-old man with metastatic pancreatic cancer was admitted to the hospital
for terminal care. The patient requested intensive medical support in order
"to live as long as possible." Management goals included preserving
end-of-life autonomy; therefore, life-extending treatments were delivered as
he had adamantly requested. Simultaneously, there was agreement among physicians
that futile treatments were unwarranted. Discussions with the power of attorney
did not alter medical management. Elements of a "Fair Process Approach
to Futility," published in March 1999 by the American Medical Association
(AMA) Council on Ethical and Judicial Affairs, were utilized in an attempt to
achieve conflict resolution. Medical subspecialist and ethics committee consultations
had contributory roles in resolving conflict between the patient and patient
surrogate and the patient's physicians.
http://www.medscape.com/Medscape/GeneralMedicine/journal/1999/v01.n10/mgm1012.kusc/mgm1012.kusc-01.html
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6. NEW ENGLAND JOURNAL OF MEDICINE--ARTICLE (abstract only available electronically):
"Racial Differences in the Treatment of Early-Stage Lung
Cancer," by Peter B. Bach, Laura D. Cramer, Joan L. Warren, Colin B. Begg.
(October 14, 1999, Vol. 341, No. 16)
>From the Abstract:
We studied all black patients and white patients 65 years of age or older who
were given a diagnosis of resectable non-small-cell lung cancer (stage I or
II) between 1985 and 1993 and who resided in 1 of the 10 study areas of the
Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results (SEER) program (10,984 patients).
Data on the diagnosis, stage of disease, treatment, and demographic characteristics
of the patients were obtained from the SEER data base. Information on coexisting
illnesses, type of Medicare coverage, and survival was obtained from linked
Medicare inpatient-discharge records.
http://www.nejm.org/content/1999/0341/0016/1198.asp
See also a _NEJM_ editorial related to the article (available electronically
in full text):
"Racial Disparity in Rates of Surgery for Lung Cancer"
http://www.nejm.org/content/1999/0341/0016/1231.asp
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III. Working Papers
7. INTERNATIONAL INSTITUTE FOR APPLIED SYSTEMS ANALYSIS:
A. "Health and Welfare Services Expenditure in an Aging World," by
L.D. Mayhew (IR-99-035, September 1999, .pdf or .ps format, 40p.).
>From the Abstract:
The world's population is aging, albeit at different rates in different countries.
IIASA is building an economic-demographic model for exploring the consequences
on the global macroeconomy and has so far concentrated on impacts mediated through
public and private pension systems. It now wishes to extend the model to cover
other sectors whose provision is also highly age-sensitive, including health
and welfare services. This paper explores the consequences of population aging
for these vital services and considers the basic mechanisms fueling their growth.
These mechanisms fall into essentially two categories: the first is related
to the biomedical processes of aging which can lead to chronic illness and disability
in old age. The second concerns the costs of treatment and long-term care which,
in turn, are a function of medical technology and institutional factors, how
services are delivered, and who bear the costs. Using simple but explicit projection
methodologies, we project health care and disability-related expenditure [for]
two major world regions, corresponding to more- and less developed countries
(MDCs and LDCs). The key policy-related conclusions are: 1) Aging will
overtake population growth as the main demographic driver of health expenditure
growth, but its effect will be less than technological and institutional factors.
2) Health expenditure will expand rapidly in LDCs (relative to GDP) to the same
sorts of levels currently observed in MDCs. 3) The number of disabled will grow
substantially, but will level out in MDCs by 2050 (earlier for all but the oldest
age groups), while the number of disabled in all age groups will continue to
grow in LDCs. Assuming that most care of the disabled continues to be
provided by the family and community, projected increases in disability-related
expenditure are modest.
http://www.iiasa.ac.at/cgi-bin/pubsrch?IR99035
B. "Globalization, Social Security, and International Transfers,"
by F.L. MacKellar, T.Y. Ermolieva and H. Reisen (IR-99-056, October 1999, PostScript
format).
>From the Abstract:
In this paper, we quantify the impact of globalization (i.e., integration of
global capital markets) on intergenerational transfers mediated through Pay
As You Go (PAYG) public pension systems in more developed countries (MDCs),
as well as impacts on the intergenerational distribution of income and wealth.
Our basic finding is that, while globalization is likely to erode the pension
income of older persons, it will enhance their wealth, leaving their overall
spending power little changed. The working age population, which earns lower
wages, is an unambiguous loser from the globalization process, at least to the
extent that we limit ourselves to a neoclassical analysis of the phenomenon.
http://www.iiasa.ac.at/cgi-bin/pubsrch?IR99056
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IV. Journal Tables of Contents (check your library for availability)
8. _Experimental Aging Research_ (Vol. 25, No. 4, September 1999)
http://www.catchword.co.uk/titles/tandf/0361073X/contp1-1.htm
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9. _Journal of Gerontology: Social Sciences (B)_ (Volume 54B, No. 5,
September 1999)
http://www.geron.org/journals/soccontents.html
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10. CARL Uncover Journal Tables of Contents. Follow the instructions below to
access tables of contents. Sorry for any inconvenience, but licensing restrictions
do not allow me to pass the tables of contents to you, and database driven URLs
are dynamic and will not work from one machine to the next.
A. Point your browser to:
http://uncweb.carl.org:80/
B. click on "Search Uncover"
C. click on "Search Uncover Now"
D. Type the Journal Name in the search box and click the radio button
"Journal Title Browse"
E. click on the journal name
F. click on "journal issues"
G. click on the issues identified below
_The American Journal of Sociology_ (Vol. 105, No. 2, September 1999)
_Journal of Gerontological Social Work_ (Vol. 31, No. 3/4 1999)
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V. Funding Opportunities:
11. NIH: Aging Women and Breast Cancer. Release Date: October 5, 1999.
The National Institute on Aging (NIA), the National Cancer Institute (NCI),
and the National Institute of Nursing Research (NINR) invite research applications
to focus on the unique problems of older women with breast cancer. Breast
cancer affecting elderly women is a major health problem. The purpose
of this broad-based program announcement is to expand the knowledge base on
breast cancer in older women through studies in the fields of biology, clinical
medicine, epidemiology, and the behavioral and social sciences.
http://grants.nih.gov/grants/guide/pa-files/PA-00-001.html
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VI. Legislation Information Updates
12. STATEMENT OF AARP BEFORE SENATE HEALTH, EDUCATION, LABOR AND PENSIONS COMMITTEE:
On September 21, 1999 AARP gave a statement at a hearing "on the issue
of cash balance pension conversions and the impact on older workers of this
growing trend."
http://www.aarp.org/wwstand/testimony/1999/s092199.html
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13. AOA CHART: The Administration on Aging has release a draft version of a
"Side-by-Side Comparison Chart: Proposals for Reauthorization of the Older
Americans Act-1999," in both HTML and .pdf formats. It compares the current
law, H.R. 1637 (Martinez) & S.1203 (Mikulski) (Administration Proposal);
H.R. 782 as reported out on 9/15/99; and S.1536 (DeWine).
HTML version:
http://www.aoa.dhhs.gov/Oaa/1999/sidebyside.html
.pdf version (14p.):
http://www.aoa.dhhs.gov/Oaa/1999/sidebyside.pdf
More information on each of the proposals can be found at:
http://www.aoa.dhhs.gov/Oaa/status/default.htm
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VII. Websites of Interest
14. SEER CANQUES: The National Cancer Institute's Surveillance, Epidemiology,
and End Results site provides this interactive summary data extractor (users
need to have Netscape Navigator 4.06 or Microsoft Internet Explorer 4.x or better
java enabled browsers to use it). It "allows the user to access over 10
million pre-calculated cancer statistics. CANQUES performs no calculations and
contains statistics that were created by the SEER Program for their routine
reporting and the _SEER Cancer Statistics Review, 1973-1996_." Users can
select from topic areas of SEER incidence rates or trends or US mortality rates
or trends. Among available variables to create tables from are statistic type,
site, year, race, sex, age, and SEER registry. Output options are available.
http://www-seer.ims.nci.nih.gov/ScientificSystems/Canques1973_1996/
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Jack
Jack Solock
Data Librarian--Center for Demography and Ecology
4470 Social Science
University of Wisconsin-Madison
Madison, WI 53706
608-262-9827
jsolock@ssc.wisc.edu