Age patterns of racial/ethnic/nativity differences in disability and physical functioning in the United States

Jennifer Melvin, Irma T. Elo, Robert A. Hummer and Neil K. Mehta
Additional contact information
Jennifer Melvin: University of Texas at Austin
Irma T. Elo: University of Pennsylvania
Robert A. Hummer: University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
Neil K. Mehta: University of Texas Medical Branch

Demographic Research, 2014, vol. 31, issue 17, 497-510

Abstract: Background: Rapid population aging and increasing racial/ethnic and immigrant/native diversity make a broad documentation of U.S. health patterns during both mid- and late life particularly important. Objective: We aim to better understand age- and gender-specific racial/ethnic and nativity differences in physical functioning and disability among adults aged 50 and above. Methods: We aggregate 14 years of data from the National Health Interview Survey and calculate age- and gender-specific proportions of physical functioning and two types of disability for each population subgroup. Results: Middle-aged foreign-born individuals in nearly every subgroup exhibit lower proportions of functional limitations and disability than U.S.-born whites. This pattern of immigrant advantage is generally reversed in later life. Moreover, most U.S.-born minority groups have significantly higher levels of functional limitations and disability than U.S.-born whites in both mid- and late life. Conclusions: Higher levels of functional limitations and disability among U.S.-born minority groups and immigrant populations in older adulthood pose serious challenges for health providers and policymakers in a rapidly diversifying and aging population.

Keywords: disability; functional limitations; nativity; gender; race/ethnicity (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: J1 Z0 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2014
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (7)

Downloads: (external link)
https://www.demographic-research.org/volumes/vol31/17/31-17.pdf (application/pdf)

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:dem:demres:v:31:y:2014:i:17

DOI: 10.4054/DemRes.2014.31.17

Access Statistics for this article

More articles in Demographic Research from Max Planck Institute for Demographic Research, Rostock, Germany
Bibliographic data for series maintained by Editorial Office ().