Elderly black women in Allegheny County are far more likely to be living sick, needy and alone than elderly white women or than elderly men of either race.

The portrait of the hardships facing for African-American females past 65 comes from a comprehensive survey released yesterday by the University of Pittsburgh's University Center for Social and Urban Research. Researchers questioned more than 5,000 Medicare beneficiaries in the county.

In comparing white males and females with black males and females, the report, called "The State of Aging and Health in Pittsburgh and Allegheny County," provided some reassuring results: There was no huge racial distinction, for instance, in frequency of doctors' visits, insurance coverage for prescription drugs or dietary habits.

But in certain categories, hardships affecting older adults' quality of life appeared to fall hardest on black women:

Black women represented the only group in which twice as many individuals rated their health fair to very poor as opposed to very good or excellent. They were also twice as likely as other groups to depend on someone helping them with dressing, bathing or other basic needs.

Black women were the only group in which more than half the members (53 percent) lived alone, a status that is commonly considered more a risk to health for the elderly than a sign of well-being. About 75 percent of older black women were unmarried, compared to 40 percent of black men, 59 percent of white women and 24 percent of white men.

Half of the black women reported annual income of under $15,000, which was true of fewer than one in four of the other respondents. Black women were two-thirds more likely than even black men to be living in poverty.

"We see this over and over again -- older black females do worse than virtually any other sector of the population," said Richard Schulz, director of the Pitt research center that organized the study.

Older black women's high rate of widowhood handicaps them later in life, both in income and social support. The study found that they are both the biggest users of social services and the group saying it has the most unmet needs from social services.

Mildred Morrison, administrator of the Allegheny County Area Agency on Aging, said the survey helped explain the agency's own client numbers. Black females make up about one-fourth of its service recipients, a far higher percentage than their share of the elderly population.

The report highlighted that the agency should do more than it has to target that group, Morrison said, such as using the churches heavily attended by black women to link the organization with those in need of assistance.

"We need to be more involved with community groups [that include black women], rather than just wait for whoever comes to us," agreed Alice Hilliard, executive director of Eastern Area Adult Services, which assists clients in Wilkinsburg and other communities.

Stephen Thomas, director of the Center for Minority Health in Pitt's Graduate School of Public Health, said it's possible that the survey makes black women appear to be needier than black males because men are less likely to admit their frailty.

But it also could be, he said, "the black men who make it past 65 truly are the most hardy."

Thomas said the survey's positive news is that the health disparities between the races in earlier years may narrow late in life for local residents.

More than 70 percent of black respondents had some type of health insurance in addition to Medicare, compared with about 90 percent for whites. About 60 percent of African Americans had prescription medication insurance, compared with more than 70 percent of white seniors.

Thomas said those numbers for black seniors were better than might be the case elsewhere, and probably reflected the role of Pittsburgh's steel industry in providing good health plans and pensions to so many minorities.

"It shows blacks are able to hang in there, even though there's still a gap between blacks and whites 65 and older," Thomas said.

In one disparity continued from younger years, the report found far lower levels of trust among black individuals than whites for government sources of health information, compared to their personal doctors, or even their clergy.

The report may be viewed at the following Internet address: www.ucsur.pitt.edu/publications.htm