González Hector M, Ceballos Miguel, Tarraf Wassim, West Brady T, Bowen Mary E, Vega William A
Institute of Gerontology, Wayne State University, Detroit, MI, 48202, USA.
Am J Public Health. 2009 Oct;99(10):1879-85. doi: 10.2105/AJPH.2008.133744. Epub 2009 Aug 20.
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.
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.
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.
Among older Mexican Americans, immigrant health advantages over their US-born 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.
我们比较了移民的和在美国出生的年长墨西哥裔美国人患几种疾病的风险，以确定移民的功能健康状况与在美国居住年限之间的关系。
分析了来自美国西南部5个州的3050名65岁及以上墨西哥裔美国人的横断面、多阶段概率抽样数据。在多变量回归模型中检查了自评健康状况、疾病情况和功能指标，该模型将出生地和在美国居住的年限作为关键预测因素。
移民群体和在美国出生群体的自评健康状况和疾病情况没有显著差异。在对 predisposing 和医疗需求因素进行调整后，在美国居住时间较长的移民的认知功能得分显著更高，功能活动方面的问题也更少。
在年长的墨西哥裔美国人中，移民相对于在美国出生的同龄人并没有明显的健康优势。随着在美国居住时间的延长，移民的健康功能状况更好，这可能源于更多的社会经济资源。我们的研究结果表明，在年轻移民成年人中发现的负面文化适应 - 健康关系在晚年可能会变成一种积极关系。
