scholarly journals Comparisons of the Association of Family and Social Factors With Functional Limitations Across the United States, Mexico, and South Korea: Findings From the HRS Family of Surveys

2019 ◽  
Vol 32 (9) ◽  
pp. 1042-1051
Author(s):  
Ickpyo Hong ◽  
Loree Pryor ◽  
Rebeca Wong ◽  
Kenneth J. Ottenbacher ◽  
Timothy A. Reistetter

Objective: The association of family and social factors with the level of functional limitations was examined across the United States, Mexico, and Korea. Method: Participants included adults from the 2012 Health and Retirement Study ( n = 10,017), Mexican Health and Aging Study ( n = 6,367), and Korean Longitudinal Study of Aging ( n = 4,134). A common functional limitation scale was created based on Rasch analysis with a higher score indicating better physical function. Results: The American older adults (3.65 logits) had better physical function compared with Mexican (2.81 logits) and Korean older adults (1.92 logits). There were different associations of family and social factors with functional limitations across the three countries. Discussion: The American older adults demonstrated less functional limitation compared with Mexican and Korean older adults at the population level. The findings indicate the need to interpret carefully the individual family and social factors associated with functional limitations within the unique context of each country.

2020 ◽  
pp. 073346482097760
Author(s):  
Manka Nkimbeng ◽  
Yvonne Commodore-Mensah ◽  
Jacqueline L. Angel ◽  
Karen Bandeen-Roche ◽  
Roland J. Thorpe ◽  
...  

Acculturation and racial discrimination have been independently associated with physical function limitations in immigrant and United States (U.S.)-born populations. This study examined the relationships among acculturation, racial discrimination, and physical function limitations in N = 165 African immigrant older adults using multiple linear regression. The mean age was 62 years ( SD = 8 years), and 61% were female. Older adults who resided in the United States for 10 years or more had more physical function limitations compared with those who resided here for less than 10 years ( b = −2.62, 95% confidence interval [CI] = [–5.01, –0.23]). Compared to lower discrimination, those with high discrimination had more physical function limitations ( b = −2.51, 95% CI = [–4.91, –0.17]), but this was no longer significant after controlling for length of residence and acculturation strategy. Residing in the United States for more than 10 years is associated with poorer physical function. Longitudinal studies with large, diverse samples of African immigrants are needed to confirm these associations.


Healthcare ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 8 (3) ◽  
pp. 341
Author(s):  
David R. Axon ◽  
Shannon Vaffis ◽  
Srujitha Marupuru

The prevalence of older adults with pain and comorbid cardiovascular conditions is increasing in the United States (U.S.). This retrospective, cross-sectional database study used 2017 Medical Expenditure Panel Survey data and hierarchical logistic regression models to identify predictive characteristics of opioid use among a nationally representative sample of older U.S. adults (aged ≥50 years) with pain in the past four weeks and comorbid hypertension (pain–hypertension group) or hypercholesterolemia (pain–hypercholesterolemia group). The pain–hypertension group included 2733 subjects (n = 803 opioid users) and the pain–hypercholesterolemia group included 2796 subjects (n = 795 opioid users). In both groups, predictors of opioid use included: White race versus others, Hispanic versus non-Hispanic ethnicity, 1 versus ≥5 chronic conditions, little/moderate versus quite a bit/extreme pain, good versus fair/poor perceived mental health, functional limitation versus no functional limitation, smoker versus non-smoker, and Northeast versus West census region. In addition, Midwest versus West census region was a predictor in the pain–hypertension group, and 4 versus ≥5 chronic conditions was a predictor in the pain–hypercholesterolemia group. In conclusion, several characteristics of older U.S. adults with pain and comorbid hypertension or hypercholesterolemia were predictive of opioid use. These characteristics could be addressed to optimize individuals’ pain management and help address the opioid overdose epidemic.


Author(s):  
Michael Root

Racial categories are used in the biomedical sciences both at the population and individual level. At the population level, race is used in fields like epidemiology, to describe and explain variations in the rate or risk of morbidity and mortality within the United States, and at the individual level, race is used in the hospital and clinic, in the diagnosis and treatment of disease. Both uses are controversial and raise questions about the nature and importance of racial categories, such as which uses benefit individuals and which benefit groups.


SLEEP ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 44 (Supplement_2) ◽  
pp. A216-A216
Author(s):  
Claire Williams ◽  
Sarah Ghose ◽  
Morgan Reid ◽  
Sahar Sabet ◽  
Ashley MacPherson ◽  
...  

Abstract Introduction Functional limitations become increasingly common and debilitating as individuals age, potentially impacting several facets of well-being. As such, it is important to understand malleable factors that may potentially impact functional limitation outcomes. Both sleep and perceived control have been linked to the development of functional limitation. The current study sought to clarify the unique contributions of both sleep quality and perceived control to functional limitation status in middle-aged and older adults. Methods Data from the second wave of the Midlife in the United States study were used for the current study. Participants included 527 participants (59.9% female, Mage=59.83 years, SD=9.75 years) who completed measures of functional limitation levels (Functional Status Questionnaire), subjective sleep quality (Pittsburg Sleep Quality Index), and perceived control (MIDI Sense of Control Scales). A hierarchical regression analysis was conducted to examine sleep quality and perceived control as predictors in a unique model for predicting functional limitation. Demographic variables of age, gender, and race were used as covariates in study analyses. Results The overall model predicted 19.0% of the variance in functional limitation levels. Sleep quality was significantly associated with self-reported functional limitation (β=-.27, p<.001) over and above perceived control (β=.20, p<.001). Specifically, findings indicate that worse sleep quality is associated with increased functional limitation, while higher levels of perceived control are associated with lower levels of functional limitation. Conclusion Though perceived control is known to be associated with functional limitation status, the present study suggests a unique effect of sleep quality on functional limitation even after accounting for perceived control. Due to the potential for negative effects of functional limitation in middle-aged to older adults, it is important to identify and target constructs for research and intervention related to the development of these limitations. Care models for individuals who report experiencing functional limitations may benefit from targeting sleep health and control beliefs in intervention and assessment. Support (if any):


2021 ◽  
pp. 019459982110621
Author(s):  
Alexander S. Kim ◽  
Joshua F. Betz ◽  
Nicholas S. Reed ◽  
Bryan K. Ward ◽  
Carrie L. Nieman

Tympanic membrane (TM) perforations can occur at any age, but limited population-level data are available. Using data from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey, we performed a cross-sectional analysis of the prevalence and population estimates for TM perforations among individuals ≥12 years old in the United States. Overall, TM perforations have a prevalence of 2.1% (95% CI, 1.7%-2.6%), corresponding to 5.8 million Americans. Across the life course, older adults have the highest prevalence of TM perforations at 6.1% (95% CI, 4.7%-7.6%), corresponding to nearly 3 million Americans, as opposed to a prevalence of 0.6% (95% CI, 0.3%-0.9%) in adolescents, which equates to 0.2 million Americans. Males and females have a similar prevalence at 2.3% (95% CI, 1.6%-3.0%) among males and 2.0% (95% CI, 1.4%-2.6%) among females. These prevalence and population estimates provide the first US-based population estimates of the burden of TM perforations over the life course.


2019 ◽  
Vol 40 (8) ◽  
pp. 1694-1717 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yan-Liang Yu ◽  
Zhenmei Zhang

AbstractSubstantial research shows that cardiovascular disease is a major cause of disability in the United States of America (USA) and worldwide. Despite the well-documented significance of intimate partnerships for cardiovascular health and disease management, how relationship quality contributes to the functional health of older adults diagnosed with cardiovascular disease is much less understood than mental health and mortality risk. Informed by the disablement process model and the lifecourse perspective, this study examines the association between relationship quality and functional limitations among partnered older adults aged 50 years and older diagnosed with cardiovascular disease in the USA. Data are from the Health and Retirement Study, 2006–2012 (N = 1,355). Multi-level linear regression analyses show that baseline negative relationship quality is significantly associated with increased functional limitations over the two- and four-year follow-ups. Additionally, the link between negative relationship quality and functional limitations is stronger among older adults with lower household income over a two-year span, compared to their higher-income counterparts, suggesting that these older adults are doubly disadvantaged by higher relationship strains and limited economic resources. Our findings demonstrate the significance of relationship quality for the functional health of older adults with cardiovascular disease and shed light on the importance of marriage/partnerships as an important social context for a critical stage in the disablement process (i.e. functional limitations).


Author(s):  
David M. Struthers

This book examines interracial labor and radical organizing in Los Angeles, California, and the United States/Mexico borderlands between 1900 and 1930. Domestic and transnational migration to Los Angeles—including from Europe, Asia, and Mexico—created one of the most racially diverse regions in the United States. Uneven regional economic development drove continued labor mobility for many working-class residents. The book documents a thread of working-class culture in which interracial solidarities formed to oppose capitalism, racism, and often the state itself. These solidarities flourished most frequently among workers with the most precarious employment and living situations, fueled by the ideals advanced in anarchism, socialist internationalism, the syndicalism of the Industrial Workers of the World (IWW) and the Partido Liberal Mexicano (PLM). This book uses the anarchist notion of affinity to frame its understanding of interracial organizing as the mobility of workers often made coalitions and solidarities short lived. Affinity frames the individual cooperative actions that shaped the social practices of resistance often too unstructured or episodic for historians to capture. This approach maintains focus on the continuity of organizing practices while tracing changing solidarities, associations, and organizations that formed and dissolved through struggle, repression, and factionalism. The radical practices that germinated in and near Los Angeles produced some of the broadest examples of interracial cooperation in U.S. history.


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