Disability Trajectories by Age of Migration among Mexican Elders in the United States

• In Event: 190 - Section on Latino/a Sociology Refereed Roundtable Session and Business Meeting
  In Refereed Roundtable 60min: Table 02. Demography of Latino/as

Abstract

This study employs 17 years of data from the Hispanic Established Population for the Epidemiologic Study of the Elderly to document heterogeneity in Activities of Daily Living and Instrumental Activities of Daily Living limitations across eight groups by gender, nativity and age of migration among Mexican-origin individuals 65 and older residing in the southwestern United States. This examination takes into account the demographic heterogeneity of the U.S. Mexican-origin population and is especially timely given the rapid population aging that U.S. Latino and immigration subpopulations are experiencing. We argue that the life experiences of the foreign-born in the U.S. are likely to be shaped by the age and the period at which they immigrated. We examine the extent of functional incapacity, measured in terms of problems with Activities of Daily Living and Performance-Oriented Mobility Assessment after age 65 in a large longitudinal sample of Mexican-origin individuals. Age graded latent growth curve models stratified by gender find almost no nativity or age of migration differences for subjectively measured ADLs. However, objectively measured POMAs are significantly different for men and women by nativity and age of migration. Migrants that arrived in mid-life have fewer limitations at age 65 but have steeper increase in POMAs with age. These findings illustrate foreign-born Mexican elders are not a homogeneous group. This issue merits special attention in the development of community-based long-term care programs to appropriately target the specific needs of different sub-groups of older Mexican-origin individuals who are entering into their last decades of life.

Authors

• Marc Anthony Garcia, University of Texas Medical Branch-Galveston

• Adriana Marie Reyes, University of Michigan