ABSTRACT
As life expectancy increases, the physical problems associated with advancing age are becoming more prevalent in our society. Life expectancy has more than doubled in the past 200 years, from 35 years in 1776 to 75 years in 1989. In 1989 there were 30 million people in the United States over 65 years of age, 120/0 of the population, and this figure is increasing by approximately 6 million each decade. From 1970 to 1990 the rate of increase of persons over 65 years of age was twice that of the remainder of the population. In 1900 about 3% of the total li fe span was spent in retirement (1.2 years), and in 1980 that figure increased to 13.6OJo (10.2 years). These changes toward an increased life span have resulted in a multiplication of the personal hardships often associated with old age as weIl as an enormous increase in the obligations of society towards its elderly citizens.
