Lerner Center for Public Health Promotion, Aging Studies Institute, Department of Sociology, and Maxwell School of Citizenship & Public Affairs, Syracuse University, Syracuse, New York, USA.
Wayne State University, Institute of Gerontology & Department of Healthcare Sciences, Detroit, Michigan, USA.
J Gerontol B Psychol Sci Soc Sci. 2022 Dec 29;77(12):e226-e233. doi: 10.1093/geronb/gbac133.
Migration and gender are important factors that differentiate the Latino immigrant experience in the United States. We investigate the association between nativity status, age of migration, and cognitive life expectancies among a nationally representative sample of Latino adults aged 50 and older to explore whether age of migration and gender influence cognitive aging across the life course.
This study used data from the Health and Retirement Study (1998-2016) to estimate Sullivan-based life tables of cognitive life expectancies by nativity, age of migration, and gender for older Latino adults. Cognitive status was based on the Langa-Weir algorithm. We test for both within-group (i.e., nativity and age of migration) and gender differences to explore the overall burden of disease among this rapidly growing population.
Foreign-born Latinos, regardless of age of migration or gender, spend a greater number of years after age 50 with cognitive impairment/no dementia than U.S.-born Latinos. However, the number of years spent with dementia varied by subgroup with midlife immigrant men and late-life immigrant men and women exhibiting a significant disadvantage relative to the U.S.-born. Furthermore, we document a gender disadvantage for all Latino women, regardless of immigrant status.
The robust relationship between nativity, age of migration, and cognitive aging suggests that older foreign-born Latinos experiencing cognitive decline may place serious burdens on families. Future research should target the needs of different subgroups of older Latinos who are entering their last decades of life to develop culturally appropriate long-term care programs.
迁移和性别是区分美国拉丁裔移民经历的重要因素。我们调查了出生国地位、迁移年龄与认知预期寿命之间的关联，以研究迁移年龄和性别是否会影响整个生命周期中的认知衰老。
本研究使用健康与退休研究（1998-2016 年）的数据，通过出生国、迁移年龄和性别来估计年龄在 50 岁及以上的拉丁裔老年人的认知预期寿命的沙利文生命表。认知状况基于朗加-威尔算法。我们测试了组内（即出生国和迁移年龄）和性别差异，以探索这个快速增长的人群中的总体疾病负担。
无论年龄大小，外国出生的拉丁裔人在 50 岁以后患有认知障碍/无痴呆症的年份比美国出生的拉丁裔人多。然而，各亚组的痴呆症患病年份不同，中年移民男性和晚年移民男性和女性与美国出生的人相比处于明显劣势。此外，我们发现所有拉丁裔女性都存在性别劣势，而不论其移民身份如何。
出生国、迁移年龄与认知衰老之间的强相关性表明，经历认知衰退的老年外国出生拉丁裔人可能会给家庭带来严重负担。未来的研究应针对不同亚组的老年拉丁裔人的需求，制定文化适宜的长期护理计划。
