Neighborhood context and mortality among older Mexican Americans: is there a barrio advantage?

Abstract

Objectives: We examined whether Mexican Americans living in high-density Mexican American neighborhoods experience increased morbidity and mortality compared with the rates observed among Mexican Americans living in low-density areas.

Methods: We conducted a prospective analysis of a cohort of 3050 Mexican Americans aged 65 years or older. We examined prevalence of 6 medical conditions and survival over 7 years of follow-up in relation to percentage of Mexican Americans in the census tract.

Results: With adjustment for covariates, odds for disease prevalence among older Mexican Americans as a function of percentage of Mexican Americans in the census tract were 0.33 (95% confidence interval [CI]=0.16, 0.71) for stroke, 0.28 (95% CI= 0.11, 0.70) for cancer, and 0.31 (95% CI=0.10, 0.98) for hip fracture. The hazard ratio for all-cause mortality over 7 years' follow-up was 0.64 (95% CI=0.42, 0.96).

Conclusions: Sociocultural advantages conferred on Mexican Americans by living in high-density Mexican American neighborhoods outweigh the disadvantages conferred by the high poverty of those neighborhoods.

FIGURE 1—

Number of Mexican Americans aged 65 years and older and percentage of population Mexican American, by county, in 5 Southwestern states. Note. Circles represent the size, scaled by square root, of the Mexican American population aged 65 years and older, in each county. Shading represents the percentage of all county residents of all ages who are of Mexican origin. Source. US Bureau of the Census.