The Health of Older Mexican Americans in the Long Run

Abstract

Objectives-We compared risk for several medical illnesses between immigrant and US-born older Mexican Americans to determine the relationship between functional health and years of US residency among immigrants.Methods-Cross-sectional, multistage probability sample data for 3050 Mexican Americans aged 65 years or older from 5 US southwestern states were analyzed. Self-rated health, medical illnesses, and functional measures were examined in multivariate regression models that included nativity and years of US residency as key predictors.Results-Self-rated health and medical illnesses of immigrant and US-born groups did not differ significantly. Immigrants with longer US residency had significantly higher cognitive functioning scores and fewer problems with functional activities after adjustment for predisposing and medical need factors.Conclusions-Among older Mexican Americans, immigrant health advantages over their USborn counterparts were not apparent. Immigrants had better health functioning with longer US residency that may derive from greater socioeconomic resources. Our findings suggest that the negative acculturation-health relationship found among younger immigrant adults may become a positive relationship in later life.Requests for reprints should be sent to Hector M. González, PhD, Wayne State University, Institute of Gerontology, 234 Knapp Bldg, Detroit, MI, 48202 (hmgonzalez@med.wayne.edu). Contributors H. M. González conceptualized the study and supervised all aspects of its implementation. M. Ceballos also conceptualized the study and contributed to the writing. W. Tarraf and B. T. West conducted all data analyses, interpreted the data, and helped draft the article. M. E. Bowen reviewed the article and assisted in the revisions. W. A. Vega reviewed all drafts of the article and guided its revisions. All authors worked on finalizing the data set, interpreting the data, and developing the narrative into this article. Human Participant ProtectionThis existing data study was exempt from institutional review board evaluation. NIH Public Access Author ManuscriptAm J Public Health. Author manuscript; available in PMC 2010 October 1. [2][3][4][5] These findings were considered paradoxical, since they ran contrary to the negative socioeconomic health gradient documented in the public health literature. 6,7 The Latino health paradox contends that despite experiencing disproportionate exposure to risk factors for excess morbidity and mortality associated with low socioeconomic position, Latinos, primarily Mexican American immigrants, generally have more favorable health outcomes than Mexican Americans born in the United States, most other minorities, and nonminorities. 8 The longer these healthy immigrants resided in the United States and acculturated, the more likely they were to report deterioration in health status indicators compared with recent immigrants. 9The mental health researchers Rogler et al. referred to "acculturation as an exogenous force shaping the conditions for the rise to psycholo...

Diet and Acculturation Among Hispanic/Latino Older Adults in the United States: A Review of Literature and Recommendations

“…Increased command of the English language is positively correlated with mortality among older Mexican Americans (12). Other researchers have found the opposite: improved functional health or maintained health is associated with more socioeconomic resources accrued with greater time in the United States (13,14). Longitudinal studies, thus, are needed to elucidate factors that contribute to the Hispanic paradox (11).…”

Acculturation and depressive symptoms in latino caregivers of cognitively impaired older adults

“…González et al ., 2009), the relationship between acculturation and mental health appears to vary across one’s lifespan. Younger caregivers may be in a vulnerable stage establishing their own identity and family in addition to the tasks of caregiving; therefore, there may be other factors that more heavily influence depression.…”

Healthy Immigrant Effect on Older Adult Immigrants in Relation to Welfare Reform

“…A limited number of studies have examined the healthy immigrant effect in relation to older adult immigrants in the United States (e.g., Angel et al, 2010;Choi, 2012;González et al, 2009). These studies have reported observations of a reverse healthy immigrant effect that is similar to the findings of the Canadian research cited above (Gee et al, 2004;Kobayashi & Prus, 2012).…”

“…However, the samples of older adult immigrants used in these U.S. studies had immigrated before PRWORA was implemented. Choi (2012) used baseline data from 1994, whereas Angel et al (2010) and González et al (2009) used baseline data collected in 1993. Thus, their study participants were not affected by the PROWRA.…”

“…By 2010, older adult (65 years or older) immigrants accounted for nearly 12% of the 40 million foreign-born persons in the U.S. population and 12% of the 40.4 million older adults in the United States (Batalova & Lee, 2012). However, few studies have examined the healthy immigrant effect in relation to older adult immigrants living in the United States (e.g., Angel, Angel, Venegas, & Bonazzo, 2010;Choi, 2012;González et al, 2009).…”