Prevalence and Trends in Morbidity and Disability Among Older Mexican Americans in the Southwestern United States, 1993–2013

Abstract

This study examines the prevalence of morbidity and disability among older Mexican Americans using 5-year age groups. Twenty-year panel data from the Hispanic Established Populations for the Epidemiological Study of the Elderly are used to make detailed comparisons by nativity and gender. Results show that prevalence rates for most chronic conditions for both males and females do not vary by nativity. For disabilities, nativity is a significant predictor of increased instrumental activity of daily living disability for foreign-born females and reduced activity of daily living disability for U.S.-born males. Additionally, results show significant interactions between nativity and age cohorts, with the gap increasing with age for males and decreasing with age for females. These results have important implications for health services and health policy. Given the rapid aging of the Mexican American population, the prevention and treatment of medical conditions, particularly among the foreign-born, should be a major public health priority to reduce dependence from disabilities.

Disability and the Immigrant Health Paradox: Gender and Timing of Migration

“…First, we find that the healthy immigrant hypothesis is only observable among mid-and late-life migrant men for ADL disability. This supports prior research that the healthy immigrant hypothesis is more reflective of the life course processes for men rather than for women (Melvin et al 2014;Angel et al 2014;Garcia et al 2015;Nam et al 2016;Sheftel 2017;Garcia and Reyes 2018).…”

“…Prior research indicates nativity and gender interact in unique ways to affect the disability profiles of older Mexican-Americans based on type of disability measured (Melvin et al 2014;Nam et al 2015;Garcia et al 2015;Sheftel 2017;Garcia and Reyes 2018). In particular, immigrant advantages in disability have been found to vary across different measures of disability for men and women (Markides et al 2007;Cantu et al 2013;Hayward et al 2014;Angel, Angel, and Hill 2014;Garcia et al 2015).…”

“…Research shows that older foreign-born Mexican women have a higher prevalence, and spend a larger fraction of their late life years with disability than both U.S.-born women and U.S.-and foreign-born Mexican-American men; which has been attributed to negative health selection, inequalities in access to resources, low levels of acculturation, and increased longevity (Warner and Brown 2011;Garcia et al 2015;Garcia and Reyes 2018). Overall, these studies document a nativity advantage in ADL disability among foreign-born men and disadvantage in IADL disability among foreign-born women relative to their U.S.-born co-ethnics.…”

“…Overall, there is evidence that the healthy immigrant effect is more reflective of health patterns for men than women (Read and Reynolds 2012) and among the Mexican-origin population in particular (Angel et al 2014;Melvin et al 2014;Garcia et al 2015;Nam et al 2016;Sheftel 2017;Garcia and Reyes 2018). Observed gender differences in the healthy immigrant effect may be attributed to patterns of selective migration.…”

Sociocultural variability in the Latino population: Age patterns and differences in morbidity among older US adults

“…Research shows nativity status to be a crucial factor for determining individual health. In general, US-born Latinos have a health profile more indicative of their minority status, exhibiting higher rates of morbidity (Garcia and Reyes 2017; Zhang, Hayward, and Lu 2012) and spending more of their later-life years with a chronic condition than foreign-born Latinos (Cantu et al 2013; Garcia et al 2017). …”