Zachary Zimmer, Luoman Bao, Nanette L. Mayol, Feinian Chen, Tita Lorna L. Perez, Paulita L. Duazo
BACKGROUND Limited evidence exists regarding how functional limitation patterns of women in developing countries unfold through midlife and into old age, a critical period during which the tendency to develop severe problems is fomented. OBJECTIVE Functional limitation prevalence and patterns through midlife into early old age, and their determinants, are examined among women in the Philippines. METHODS Data from the Cebu Longitudinal Health and Nutrition Study are monitored from 1994 to 2015. Patterns are categorized using group-based trajectory modeling. Predictors of group membership are modeled. RESULTS About half responding to all survey waves report functional limitation at least once over the study period. Movements in and out of functional limitation states are common. Between age 30 and 70, trajectories are categorized into four groups: 1) robust, 2) late onset, 3) early onset, and 4) recovery. Being married, living in a nuclear household, higher successful birth ratio, and higher education associate with favorable trajectories. More births, higher age at first birth, wealth, and urbanicity associate with less favorable trajectories. CONCLUSION Many possible routes into and out of functional limitation exist. The manifold patterns can be grouped into common trajectories. A number of earlier life characteristics associate with these trajectories. CONTRIBUTION This is the first analysis to ascertain common functional limitation trajectories and earlier life predictors among women as they age in a high fertility developing country setting. Recognizing these is an important step toward understanding global health given aging of the population and the likelihood of functional problems developing in women as they move into old age. © 2017 Zimmer, Bao, Mayol, Chen, Perez & Duazo.
Mount Saint Vincent University, Halifax, B3M 2J6, NS, Canada; Department of Sociology, California State University, Los Angeles, United States; Department of Anthropology, Sociology and History, University of San Carlos, Cebu, Philippines; Department of Sociology, University of Maryland, College Park, United States; USC-Office of Population Studies Foundation, University of San Carlos, Cebu City, Philippines
