No abstract

Background and Objectives Chronic pain, which affects more than one in four middle-aged and older adults, can have profound implications for everyday behaviors, like driving. The literature examining it, however, is relatively small and is limited by its reliance on patient populations and lack of attention to some driving-related behaviors and self-assessments that may signal the start of a transition from driving. Research Design and Methods We address these issues using data from an online survey of Floridians aged 50 and older that was conducted between December 2020 and April 2021 and funded by the Florida Department of Transportation (n=3,832). We run multivariate regression analyses to examine the association between pain’s interference with driving and five driving-related outcomes: self-rated driving ability, driving frequency, self-regulated driving, perceived nearness of driving retirement, and planning for driving retirement. Results Results indicate that experiencing more pain that interferes with driving is associated with worse self-rated driving ability, more frequent self-regulated driving, and greater planning for driving retirement. It is not associated with driving frequency or with anticipating that driving retirement will occur in the next five years. Discussion and Implications These findings indicate that greater pain may hasten the transition from driving, along with planning for it. These patterns suggest that pain may increase people’s risk of isolation and other negative outcomes that can follow driving retirement; however, pain’s effect on planning may reduce these risks. By focusing on transitioning from driving, our study reveals a largely overlooked benefit of reducing pain – It could extend people’s years behind the wheel.

An extensive literature examines subjective aging – a construct encompassing many aspects of individuals’ views of aging, such as age identity, aging anxiety, awareness of aging, and views of life stages. A factor receiving attention within this research is gender, with studies revealing much about gender differences not only in subjective aging but also its health and behavioral consequences. However, we argue that the literature is limited by its focus on gender as an individual-level characteristic – rather than a profoundly social element emerging within interactions, pervading institutions, and constituting a system of inequality that intersects with others, including age. Addressing this limitation, our chapter applies a feminist perspective to the study of subjective aging. This perspective draws into focus the implications for subjective aging of gender’s social embeddedness and provides an illustration of the interconnection between the personal and political spheres.

The dominant cultural definitions of sex, which is heteronormative, has implications for preventive health screening among LGB+ women. Medical recommendations for women’s screening exclude some same-sex behaviors from this definition, and they center on reproduction – both of which can discourage LGB+ women’s preventive health screening. Qualitative studies have found that sexual minority women, as well as their doctors, are less likely to see sexual health exams as important for sexual minority women’s healthcare because many are not engaging in penile-vaginal intercourse. However, we are aware of no study that has used a large, nationally representative dataset to examine potential differences in health screening by sexual identity. We used data from the National Health Interview Survey (2018; n=1394) to examine differences by sexual identity in having Pap tests and mammograms. We found that sexual minority women were about 40% less likely than heterosexual women to have ever had a Pap test. Moreover, among sexual minority women, lesbian women were about 50% less likely than bisexual women to have ever had one. Sexual minority women also were 22% less likely than heterosexual women to have had a Pap test in the last 12 months. Differences by sexual identity in receiving mammograms were less striking. We found, however, that bisexuals were 25% less likely than lesbians to have ever had a mammogram. In addition, these differences in health screening were more pronounced in younger than older women.

The extension of life expectancy highlights the importance of understanding how people conceptualize – and plan for – their later years. We address this issue using data from an online survey of over 3,400 Floridians aged 50 and older that was conducted between December 2020 and March 2021 and funded by the Florida Department of Transportation. We examine five types of planning: for health care needs, financial well-being, living arrangements, driving retirement, and end-of-life care. We find that the likelihood of planning varies considerably across these types. Only 23 percent of respondents reported planning “some” or “a lot” for driving retirement, compared with 74 percent for health care needs, 76 percent for end-of-life care, 77 percent for living arrangements, and 83 percent for financial well-being. Likelihood of planning varied by age, gender, socioeconomic status, health, and race or ethnicity. Across all types of planning, older adults and those with at least a college degree and higher income were more likely to have planned. Women were more likely than men to plan for their financial future, living arrangements, driving retirement, and end-of-life care. Those in better health were more likely to plan for their financial future and end-of-life care. The effects of race or ethnicity were less consistent across the types of planning. White respondents were more likely than other race or ethnic groups to report planning for their living arrangements and end-of-life care, while Hispanic respondents were more likely than other groups to plan for driving retirement.