Medical sociology gives limited attention to age—a surprising observation given the aging of the population and the fact that age is among the strongest determinants of health. We examine this issue through an analysis of articles published in Journal of Health and Social Behavior (JHSB) and Sociology of Health & Illness (SHI) between 2000 and 2019. One in 10 articles focused on age or aging, with attention increasing over the period. However, the journals differed. More JHSB than SHI articles addressed it, but fewer focused on the latest life stages when frailty often appears. We discuss three dimensions of age that would enrich medical sociology: as a dimension of inequality akin to race and gender with similar health effects, as an institution interacting with the medical one, and as an identity—again, akin to race and gender—through which people process their experiences in ways that affect health.

医学社会学对年龄的关注有限——鉴于人口老龄化以及年龄是健康最重要的决定因素之一，这是一个令人惊讶的观察结果。我们通过分析 2000 年至 2019 年间发表在《健康与社会行为杂志》 ( JHSB ) 和《健康与疾病社会学》 ( SHI ) 上的文章来研究这个问题。十分之一的文章关注年龄或衰老，在此期间关注度不断增加. 但是，期刊有所不同。JHSB比SHI多文章讨论了这个问题，但很少关注经常出现虚弱的最新生命阶段。我们讨论了可以丰富医学社会学的三个年龄维度：作为一个类似于种族和性别的不平等维度，具有相似的健康影响；作为一个与医学机构互动的机构；以及作为一种身份——再次，类似于种族和性别——通过哪些人以影响健康的方式处理他们的经历。