Jaganjac, A. (2024, March 4). Stepping toward better health. Public Health Post. https://publichealthpost.org/health-equity/stepping-toward-better-health/

Summary: Chronic diseases – heart disease, diabetes, cancer – are the leading causes of death and disability in the U.S. They also became more common as people grow older. So as Americans age and older adults make up a greater portion of population, chronic conditions will drive health care and economic costs during this period of demographic shifts.

John P. Ansah and Chi-Tsun Chiu estimated the oncoming avalanche of chronic conditions using data from the Health and Retirement Study, which followed more than 26,000 Americans aged 50+ every two years. The authors developed a model, splitting individuals into three health categories: no chronic conditions, one condition, and at least two conditions. They then estimated how Americans would move from category to category (i.e., from having no chronic conditions to having one).