The Massachusetts Health Care Panel Study has been a major source of data about how elderly fare over time, and the factors that affect their use of health services, use of support services, rates of institutionalization, and death. The original 10-year-old panel, which consisted of 1,625 persons 65 or older in 1975, is now all over 75. A recent survey of elders in Massachusetts undertaken by Blue Cross/Blue Shield of Massachusetts (BC/BS) provides a cost-effective opportunity to augment the Massachusetts Health Care Panel Study sample with a successsive cohort of 374 people aged 66 or over. This proposal requests funding to collect additional baseline data and follow-up functional status data on the 374 people who participated in the BC/BS survey in order to continue the valuable studies of aging and the use of health services this panel has produced.
