The Hispanic population in the U.S. aged 65 and older has been growing rapidly and is projected to increase 5- fold between 2012 and 2050, when Hispanics are expected to make up more than 18% of the older adult population. Hypertension and diabetes are major diseases that affect a growing number of aging Hispanics and present significant health challenges to this population. Disease diagnosis is often the basis for estimating prevalence of hypertension and diabetes in the population. People of Hispanic origin, however, are at greater risk of under diagnosis because of the unique challenges they face accessing and interacting with the health care system. The main objectives of the proposed project are two-fold: 1) to obtain estimates of hypertension and diabetes prevalence for different Hispanic subpopulations, defined by ethnic origin, nativity, and time in the U.S.; and 2) to determine how sociocultural factors, health care access and utilization, and the sociomedical environment interact to influence risk for hypertension and diabetes. Data for this project come from the nationally representative Health and Retirement Study (HRS), which includes a large diverse sample of Hispanics, information on both disease diagnosis and direct assessments of disease risk, and contextual data on the social, economic, and health care environment. Multilevel modeling and logistic regression models will be used to: 1) examine the association between sociocultural factors and reported and measured disease prevalence; 2) determine if variation in health insurance and health care utilization accounts for Hispanic group differences in hypertension and diabetes; and 3) determine if variation in the sociomedical environment account for Hispanic differences in hypertension and diabetes. Results from the proposed project will offer additional insight in the determinants of health and the factors that contribute to Hispanic health disparities.
Hypertension and diabetes are major diseases that affect a growing number of aging Hispanics and present significant health challenges to this population. This study will integrate multilevel information on sociocultural factors, health care access and utilization, and the sociomedical environment to advance understanding of the risks for developing hypertension and diabetes among older Hispanic populations. Results from the study will offer additional insight in the determinants of health and the factors that contribute to Hispanic health disparities, and will inform interventions targeted at addressing disease burden to improve quality of life among Hispanics.
| Garcia, Catherine; Garcia, Marc A; Ailshire, Jennifer A (2018) Sociocultural variability in the Latino population: Age patterns and differences in morbidity among older US adults. Demogr Res 38:1605-1618 |
| García, Catherine; Garcia, Marc A; Chiu, Chi-Tsun et al. (2018) Life Expectancies With Depression by Age of Migration and Gender Among Older Mexican Americans. Gerontologist : |
| Garcia, Marc A; Garcia, Catherine; Chiu, Chi-Tsun et al. (2018) Erratum: A Comprehensive Analysis of Morbidity Life Expectancies Among Older Hispanic Subgroups in the United States: Variation by Nativity and Country of Origin. Innov Aging 2:igy019 |
| Garcia, Marc A; Garcia, Catherine; Chiu, Chi-Tsun et al. (2018) A Comprehensive Analysis of Morbidity Life Expectancies Among Older Hispanic Subgroups in the United States: Variation by Nativity and Country of Origin. Innov Aging 2:igy014 |
