TY - JOUR T1 - Differences in the Progression of Disability: A U.S.-Mexico Comparison. JF - J Gerontol B Psychol Sci Soc Sci Y1 - 2018 A1 - Díaz-Venegas, Carlos A1 - Timothy A Reistetter A1 - Rebeca Wong KW - Activities of Daily Living KW - Age Factors KW - Aged KW - Disabled Persons KW - disease progression KW - Female KW - Humans KW - Male KW - Mexico KW - MHAS AB -

Objectives: This article seeks to document the progression of disability in a developing country by implementing a model to examine how this process compares to a developed country.

Methods: Data come from the Mexican Health and Aging Study (MHAS), including a baseline survey in 2001 and a follow-up in 2003, and from the U.S. Health and Retirement Study (HRS), using the 2000 and 2002 waves. An ordinal logistic regression approach is used to examine a progression of disability that considers (a) no disability, (b) mobility problems, (c) mobility plus limitations with instrumental activities of daily living, (d) mobility plus limitations with activities of daily living (ADLs), (e) limitations in all three areas and (f) death.

Results: In both data sets, approximately 44% of the sample remained in the same level of disability at the 2-year follow-up. However, the progression of limitations with two disabilities differs by gender in the MHAS but is consistent for both men and women in the HRS.

Discussion: Our model reflects the importance of ADLs in the disablement process in Mexico. We speculate that the difference in lifetime risk profiles and cultural context might be responsible for the divergence in the progression of disability by gender.

VL - 73 UR - https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/27436102 IS - 5 U1 - http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/27436102?dopt=Abstract ER -