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diseases examined included anyof the following conditions: angina or coronaryheart disease,
heart attack, stroke, diabetes, skin cancer, non-skin cancer, asthma, and chronic obstructive
pulmonarydisease (COPD).Weighted percentageswere produced forArizona and theU.S. for
each health indicator, then the standard error of theweighted percent was used to construct 95%
confidence intervals. For each indicator, the confidence interval around the estimated percentage
forArizonanswas compared to the estimate and confidence interval for theU.S. In thismethod,
if the 95% confidence interval forArizona and theU.S. did not overlap, it can be stated that there
was a statistically significant difference betweenArizona and theU.S. on the given indicator.
Theweighted estimates and confidence intervalswere calculated separatelybygender to account
for health disparities between genders that widenwith age and also allowing for comparison of
older adultswithinArizona bygender.
3.3Results
Socioeconomic andDemographicCharacteristics
Table 2 provides the number of unweighted completedBRFSS interviews, weighted frequencies,
percentages, and standard errors for the sociodemographic characteristics ofArizona residents
age 65 and older in 2012. It was estimated that about 55 percent ofArizona?s population of non-
institutionalized older adultswere female. About 82 percent ofArizona residents age 65 and over
wereWhite non-Hispanic and about 10 percent wereHispanic, withAsians/Pacific Islanders,
American Indians, or adults of other racial/ethnic backgrounds, each accounting for
approximately1.5 percent ofArizona?s older population each. Concerning education, 11 percent
of olderArizonans had less than a high school education, about 26 percent had earned a high
school degree, andmore than 60 percent reported having either attended college/technical school
without earning a degree or had graduated from college/technical school. Themajorityof
Arizonans age 65 and olderwere retired (72.8%), about 9 percent were employed, about 7
percent reported employment as homemakers, or being self-employed, out ofwork, unable to
work, or students, representing a small proportion of olderArizonans. Likely related to the high
percentage of retired olderArizonans, Arizonansmaking less than $25,000 per year (26.2%)
accounted for the greatest percentage of any income group. For other income groups, the
remainingArizonanswere distributed fairly evenly, with 11 to 15 percent of respondents falling
within each group. A large percentage of respondents (20.6%) reported their income as either
unknown or had refused to answer the income question.
HealthBehaviors amongArizona?sOlder Adults
The current health behaviors ofArizona?s older adult population are leading indicators of
morbidities and chronic diseases that can result from healthmaintenance behavior. Table 3
provides estimates of 10 health-related behaviors, which are then depicted inFigures 4 through
6. ComparingArizona?s older adultmales to oldermales nationally, Arizonamaleswere
generally comparable tomales of the same age nationally, excluding their use of preventative
health services.More than 72 percent ofArizona?s oldermales reported having some physical
activityor exercisewithin the pastmonth, but nearly70 percent ofArizona?smales 65 and older
had aBMI of 25 or greater, indicatingbeing either overweight or obese.Within a year of being
interviewed, nearly80 percent ofArizona?s oldermales had a routine health checkup, about 50
