Educational Gradients and Pathways of Disability Onset Among Older Mexicans

Abstract

Introduction Educational disparities research is less common in developing countries. We evaluate whether educational gradients of disability onset exist in Mexico across groups (birth cohort and sex) and whether the association is unexplained or indirect via health (health behaviors, chronic conditions, and self-rated health) or economic (income, wealth, and health insurance) pathways. Method Data come from the Mexican Health & Aging study. Activities of daily living are reported in 2001, 2003, and 2012 by respondents and spouses aged 50+ (N = 9,560). Groups are analyzed using logistic regression to test education–disability onset associations. Results Significant education–ADL onset associations were observed across groups, and much of these associations were direct (unexplained by pathways). Indirect effects operated primarily through the health pathway. Discussion Those with less education were disadvantaged in terms of disability across birth cohorts and sex. Unexplained effects of education may suggest unobserved mediators or differential returns to resources by educational level.

Physical Function in an Aging Population in Rural South Africa: Findings From HAALSI and Cross-National Comparisons With HRS Sister Studies

“…Measured physical performance appears to be closely tied with socioeconomic conditions-individuals in wealthier households and those with more education had substantially faster gait speeds and stronger grip strengths than their less-educated and poorer counterparts, a finding in keeping with prior research on SES gradients in higherincome contexts (Haas, Krueger, & Rohlfsen, 2012;Hurst et al, 2013). However, these performance differences do not appear to translate into improved functioning in daily life-we observe no differences in reported ADL limitation by level of education (in contrast to many other studies in middle-and high-income contexts (Latham, 2014;Saenz & Wong, 2016;Sulander et al, 2006), and only the difference between the lowest and highest household asset index quintiles was significant. Individuals living alone are significantly less likely to report an ADL limitation-an unsurprising finding, as individuals with an ADL limitation are likely unable to live independently.…”

Are Positive Childhood Experiences Linked to Better Cognitive Functioning in Later Life?: Examining the Role of Life Course Pathways

“…The KHB method estimates the percentage of the indirect effect that is explained by each of the possible mediating variables, allowing us to determine the relative magnitude of the proposed pathways (Kohler et al, 2011). The KHB method has been widely used in previous studies of mediation analysis of cognitive functioning (Saenz et al, 2018; Saenz & Wong, 2016). All models were adjusted using survey weights in Stata 16.…”

Cognition and Context: Rural–Urban Differences in Cognitive Aging Among Older Mexican Adults

“…This method can also be used to estimate the percent of the indirect effect that is explained by individual variables in models with multiple mediating variables. The method has been described in greater detail elsewhere (Kohler, Karlson, & Holm, 2011) and has been used in previous research to assess mediation in the MHAS (Saenz & Wong, 2016; Torres & Wong, 2013). In this analysis, we assess what percent of the rural/urban differences in cognitive function (by domain) are explained by mediating variables including educational attainment, chronic condition count, and health insurance.…”