Skip to main content

Disability, Health and Generation Status: How Hispanics in the US Fare in Late Life

Journal of Immigrant and Minority Health volume 14, pages 467–474 (2012)Cite this article

Abstract

Using prospective data from a cohort of elderly Hispanics, this study explores how first-, second- and 1.5-generation Latinos differ in their levels and trajectories of disability. The results indicate that compared to second-generation elderly Hispanics, first- and 1.5-generation Hispanics had higher levels of disability. In addition, 1.5-generation elderly Hispanics had higher average ADL and IADL limitations than second-generation Hispanics at the beginning, and over time, this difference increasingly diverged. Currently married individuals had lower levels of disability than formerly married Hispanics. Also, marriage at any point in time significantly limits variability in disability in the sample, indicating that readily available spousal support is significant in diminishing generation differences in disability. Implications from these findings for future research are discussed.

This is a preview of subscription content, access via your institution.

Access options

Buy single article

Instant access to the full article PDF.

USD 39.95

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

References

  1. NC-EST2008-03. Annual estimates of the resident population by sex, race, and hispanic origin for the United States: April 1, 2000 to July 1, 2008 [http://www.census.gov/popest/national/asrh/NC-EST2008-srh.html].

  2. Angel JL, Hogan DP. Population aging and diversity in a new era. In: Whitfield KE, editor. Closing the gap: improving the health of minority elders in the new millennium. Washington, DC: The Gerontology Society of America; 2004.

  3. DP-1. Profile of general demographic characteristics: 2000 census summary file 2 (SF 2) 100-Percent Data [http://factfinder2.census.gov/faces/nav/jsf/pages/index.xhtml].

  4. B01001I. Sex by age (Hispanic Or Latino): 2009 American Community Survey 1-Year Estimates [http://factfinder2.census.gov/faces/nav/jsf/pages/index.xhtml].

  5. Gassoumis ZD, Wilber KH, Baker LA, Torres-Gil FM. Who are the Latino baby boomers? Demographic and economic characteristics of a hidden population. J Aging Soc Policy. 2010;22(1):53–68.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  6. Ha JH, Hong J, Seltzer MM, Greenberg JS. Age and gender differences in the well-being of midlife and aging parents with children with mental health or developmental problems: report of a national study. J Health Soc Behav. 2008;49(3):301–16.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  7. Verburgge L, Jette AM. The disablement process. Soc Sci Med. 1994;38(1):1–14.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  8. Nagi SZ. Disability concepts revisited: implications for prevention. In: Pope AM, Tarlov AR, editors. Disability in America: toward a national agenda for prevention. Washington, DC: National Academy Press; 1991.

  9. Angel J, Angel R. Age at migration, social connections, and well-being among elderly hispanics. J Aging Soc Policy. 1992;4(4):480–99.

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  10. Van den Brink CL, Tijhuis M, Van den Bos GAM, Giampaoli S, Nissinen A, Kromhout D. The contribution of self-rated health and depressive symptoms to disability severity as a predictor of 10-year mortality in European elderly men. Am J Public Health. 2005; 95(11):2029–2034.

    Google Scholar 

  11. Lee JS, Frongillo EA Jr. Factors associated with food insecurity among U.S. elderly persons. J Gerontol B Psychol Sci Soc Sci. 2001;56:S94–9.

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  12. Launer LJ, Harris T, Rumpel C, Madans J. Body mass index, weight change, and risk of mobility disability in middle-aged and older women: the epidemiologic follow-up study of NHANES I. J Am Med Assoc. 1994;271(14):1093–8.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  13. Kinsella KG, Phillips DR, Bureau PR. Global aging: the challenge of success: Population Reference Bureau; 2005.

  14. Von Korff M, Ormel J, Katon W, Lin EH. Disability and depression among high utilizers of health care: a longitudinal analysis. Arch Gen Psychiatry. 1992;49(2):91–100.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  15. Allensworth EM. Earnings mobility of first and “1.5” generation Mexican-origin women and men: A Comparison with U.S.-born Mexican Americans and non-Hispanic whites. International Migration Review. 1997;31(2):386–410.

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  16. Menjívar C. The ties that heal: Guatemalan immigrant women’s networks and medical treatment. Int Migr Rev. 2002;36(2):437–66.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  17. Park K. “I Really Do Feel I’m 1.5!”: The construction of self and community by young Korean Americans. Amerasia J. 1999;25(1):139–63.

    Google Scholar 

  18. Markides KS, Ray LA, Angel R, Espino DV. Hispanic established populations for the epidemiologic study of the elderly (HEPESE) wave 5, 2004–2005 [Arizona, California, Colorado, New Mexico, and Texas]. Ann Arbor, MI: inter-university Consortium for political and social research [distributor]; 2009.

  19. World Health Organziation. International classification of functioning, disability and health. Geneva, Switzerland: World Health Organziation; 2001.

  20. Fillenbaum GG. Multidimensional functional assessment of older adults: the Duke older Americans resources and services procedures. Mahwah: NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates; 1988.

  21. Fillenbaum GG, Smyer MA. The development, validity, and reliability of the OARS multidimensional functional assessment questionnaire. J Gerontol. 1981;36(4):428–34.

    PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  22. Swan J, Breen N, Coates RJ, Rimer BK, Lee NC. Progress in cancer screening practices in the United States: results from the 2000 National Health Interview Survey. Cancer. 2003;97(6):1528–40.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  23. Idler EL, Benyamini Y. Self-rated health and mortality. A review of twenty-seven community studies. J Health Soc Behav. 1997;38(1):21–37.

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  24. Goldberg RJ, Cui J, Olendzki B, Spencer F, Yarzebski J, Lessard D, Gore J. Excess body weight, clinical profile, management practices, and hospital prognosis in men and women after acute myocardial infarction. Am Heart J. 2006;151(6):1297–304.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  25. NHLBI Obesity Education Initiative Expert Panel. Clinical guidelines on the identification, evaluation, and treatment of overweight and obesity in adults—the evidence report. Bethesda, MD: National Institutes of Health, National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute; 1998.

  26. Eschbach K, Al-Snih S, Markides KS, Goodwin JS. Disability and active life expectancy of older U.S.- and foreign-born Mexican Americans. In: Angel JL, Whitfield KE, editors. The health of aging Hispanics: the Mexican-origin population. New York, NY: Springer; 2007:40–49.

  27. Singer JD, Willett JB. Applied longitudinal data analysis: modeling change and event occurrence. 2nd Edition ed. New York, NY: Oxford University Press, USA; 2003.

    Google Scholar 

  28. Burnham KP, Anderson DR. Multimodel inference: understanding AIC and BIC in model selection. Sociol Methods Res. 2004;33(2):261–304.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  29. DeMaris A. Regression with social data: modeling continuous and limited response variables. Hoboken, NJ: Wiley; 2004.

    Book  Google Scholar 

  30. Porell FW, Miltiades HB. Access to care and functional status change among aged medicare beneficiaries. J Gerontol B Psychol Sci Soc Sci. 2001;56(2):S69–83.

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  31. Carrasquillo O, Carrasquillo AI, Shea S. Health insurance coverage of immigrants living in the United States: differences by citizenship status and country of origin. Am J Public Health. 2000;90(6):917–23.

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  32. Ronksley PE, Brien SE, Turner BJ, Mukamal KJ, Ghali, WA. Association of alcohol consumption with selected cardiovascular disease outcomes: a systematic review and meta-analysis. BMJ. 2011;342(d67):1–11.

    Google Scholar 

  33. Stuck A, Walthert J, Nikolaus T, Büla C, Hohmann C, Beck J. Risk factors for functional status decline in community-living elderly people: a systematic literature review. Soc Sci Med. 1999;48(4):445–69.

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  34. Waite LJ. Does marriage matter? Demography. 1995;32(4):483–507.

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  35. Preston SH, Heuveline P, Guillot M. Demography: measuring and modeling population processes. Malden, MA: Blackwell; 2001.

    Google Scholar 

  36. Burnette D, Mui AC. Physician utilization by Hispanic elderly persons: national perspective. Med Care. 1999;37(4):362–74.

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Sociology, The George Washington University, 801 22nd Street NW, Phillips Hall 409C, Washington, DC, 20052, USA

    Antwan Jones

Authors
  1. Antwan Jones
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Antwan Jones.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and Permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Jones, A. Disability, Health and Generation Status: How Hispanics in the US Fare in Late Life. J Immigrant Minority Health 14, 467–474 (2012). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10903-011-9500-7

Download citation

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10903-011-9500-7

Keywords

  • Disability
  • Generation
  • Hispanic
  • Elderly
  • Immigration
  • Nativity