OBJECTIVES-Limited evidence exists on the prevalence and correlates of pain and the impact on daily life in older Mexican Americans. An association between pain severity and functional disability was examined.DESIGN-Cross-sectional study (2005)(2006), a subsample of the Hispanic Established Population for Epidemiologic Study of the Elderly. SETTING-Community. PARTICIPANTS-1,013Mexican American, ages 74-100 years.MEASUREMENTS-Bilingual interviewers administered structured questionnaires and physical measures of mobility and frailty (exhaustion, weight loss, walking speed, grip strength and selfreported physical activity). Two items from the SF-36 questionnaire assessed pain experiences in the last four weeks.RESULTS-Chi square, one-way ANOVA, and least square and negative binomial regressions were computed for 744 participants with complete data to investigate experience of pain and other dimensions of health and functioning. Sixty-nine percent reported pain within 4 weeks of the interview and 56% reported that pain interfered with performance of daily activities. Females, low education, frailty, reduced mobility, disability, and high comorbidity, body mass index, and depressive symptomatology were significantly associated with pain severity and interference. Regression coefficients revealed that pain severity was significantly related to ADL (0.22, p<.001) and IADL (0.23, p<.001) disability after controlling for socio-demographic and health status characteristics.

The goal of this study was to determine if prolonged exposure to perceptual-motor mismatch increased adaptability and retention of balance in older adults. Sixteen adults, aged 66 to 81 years, were randomized to one of two groups: either the control group (n=8) or the experimental group (n=8). Both groups first completed six trials of walking an obstacle course. Participants then trained twice a week for 4 weeks. In the training, the control group walked on a treadmill for 20 minutes while viewing a static visual scene and the experimental group walked on a treadmill for 20 minutes while viewing a rotating visual scene that provided a perceptual-motor mismatch. Following training, both groups were post-tested on the obstacle course. The experimental group moved faster through the obstacle course with fewer penalties. This training effect was retained for 4 weeks. Exposure to perceptual-motor mismatch induced an adaptive training effect that improved balance and locomotor control in older adults.

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This cross-sectional research examined the effects of ethnicity, age, and primary drug (alcohol or other drug) on recovering women's social network size and social support. Study participants included 21 African-American, 39 Anglo-American, and 3 Mexican-American women in continuous recovery for a minimum of 6 months. Study findings demonstrated statistically significant increases in social network size and in the amount of social support received from pretreatment to posttreatment recovery periods. Ethnicity, age, and primary drug had little effect on social network size and amount of social support received.