The Relationship Between Metabolic Health and Mortality Among Older Hispanics in the US and Mexico

Abstract

Studies consistently show that Hispanics, especially first-generation Mexican immigrants, face lower mortality risks in mid-to-late life than US-born non-Hispanic whites. This extended lifespan defies expectations given Hispanics’ disadvantaged socioeconomic status relative to whites and thus is referred to as the Hispanic paradox. However, it remains an open question as to whether the Hispanic paradox in mortality mirrors a lower chronic disease burden. To address this gap, this study will combine and leverage two harmonized longitudinal population-based data sources of late-middle-aged and older adults in the United States and Mexico; the Health and Retirement Study and the Mexican Health and Aging Study. First, I evaluate differences in the association between metabolic syndrome (MetS) and mortality risk for older adults living in Mexico, first-generation Mexican immigrants to the US, US-born Mexican Americans, and US-born whites. Second, I explore the extent to which the proportion of deaths attributable to MetS in each of these groups can be explained by differences in socioeconomic and health/behavioral characteristics. This study uses Cox proportional hazards models to estimate the mortality risks of MetS across groups, as well as the associated population attributable fractions (PAFs) to investigate potential differences within a decomposition framework. Developing this detailed understanding of metabolic health and the associated mortality risks across multiple generations of older Mexican immigrants may help us identify modifiable lifestyle and behavioral factors to better manage these conditions and alleviate possible complications as current and future generations of Mexican immigrants age in the US.

Full text

KeithWhiteld,5, 1. Arizona State University, Phoenix,
Arizona, United States, 2. Wayne State University, Detroit,
Michigan, United States, 3. Wayne state university, Detroit,
Michigan, United States, 4. Johns Hopkins Bloomberg
School of Public Health, Baltimore, Maryland, United
States, 5. University of Nevada Las Vegas, Las Vegas,
Nevada, United States
This study examined whether the effects of received and
provided social support on blood pressure (BP) would differ
by education. Data from 602 African American adults (48-
95years) enrolled in the Baltimore Study of Black Aging—
Patterns of Cognitive Aging were analyzed using multiple
linear regression. We found no main effects of received and
provided social support on BP. However, a signicant mod-
eration effect was observed for systolic BP, such that greater
received social support was positively associated with higher
systolic BP among individuals with low levels of education,
adjusting for age, sex, chronic health conditions, and depres-
sive symptoms. The ndings demonstrate that social support
and education have joint effects on blood pressure, which
highlights the importance of considering psychosocial deter-
minants of adverse cardiovascular health outcomes that dis-
proportionately affect African Americans.
THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN METABOLIC HEALTH
AND MORTALITY AMONG OLDER HISPANICS IN
THE US AND MEXICO
MariaCarabello, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor,
Michigan, United States
Studies consistently show that Hispanics, especially rst-
generation Mexican immigrants, face lower mortality risks
in mid-to-late life than US-born non-Hispanic whites. This
extended lifespan dees expectations given Hispanics’ dis-
advantaged socioeconomic status relative to whites and
thus is referred to as the Hispanic paradox. However, it re-
mains an open question as to whether the Hispanic paradox
in mortality mirrors a lower chronic disease burden. To ad-
dress this gap, this study will combine and leverage two
harmonized longitudinal population-based data sources of
late-middle-aged and older adults in the United States and
Mexico; the Health and Retirement Study and the Mexican
Health and Aging Study. First, Ievaluate differences in the
association between metabolic syndrome (MetS) and mor-
tality risk for older adults living in Mexico, rst-generation
Mexican immigrants to the US, US-born Mexican
Americans, and US-born whites. Second, I explore the ex-
tent to which the proportion of deaths attributable to MetS
in each of these groups can be explained by differences in
socioeconomic and health/behavioral characteristics. This
study uses Cox proportional hazards models to estimate the
mortality risks of MetS across groups, as well as the associ-
ated population attributable fractions (PAFs) to investigate
potential differences within a decomposition framework.
Developing this detailed understanding of metabolic health
and the associated mortality risks across multiple gener-
ations of older Mexican immigrants may help us identify
modiable lifestyle and behavioral factors to better manage
these conditions and alleviate possible complications as
current and future generations of Mexican immigrants age
in the US.
THE UTILITY OF SOCIAL MEDIA RECRUITMENT TO
ACHIEVE A MORE DIVERSE PARTICIPANT SAMPLE
Faith-ChristinaWashington,1 Tai-TeSu,1 AileenGrifn,2
JacobSosnoff,3 and ShannonMeija,4, 1. University of
Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Champaign, Illinois, United
States, 2. University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign,
Aurora, Illinois, United States, 3. School of Health
Professions, University of Kansas Medical Center, Kansas
City, Kansas, United States, 4. University of Illinois,
Champaign, Illinois, United States
The COVID-19 pandemic created an immediate, lasting
impact on recruitment methods in academic research, most
notably in the eld of gerontology. To protect older adult
participants’ health during the COVID-19 crisis, the Daily
Balance Project, a 30-day micro-longitudinal study of older
adults' awareness of balance in daily life, shifted to complete
remote administration. Our new remote protocol included
developing new methodologies to recruit participants with
varying degrees of fall risk and educational attainment. In
this study, we present our approach to remote online recruit-
ment and compare educational attainment, objective and
subjective fall risk, and alignment of objective/subjective fall
risk across three samples recruited via a) Fall Clinic registry
(16 participants); b) University e-newsletter to faculty and
staff (5 participants); c) social media recruitment (7 partici-
pants). Eligibility included being 65+ and wireless internet
at home. For samples a and b, screening assessments were
conducted via phone while baseline assessments were con-
ducted in-person. For sample c, screener and baseline assess-
ment were virtual. Analysis of recruitment methods aims to
determine whether recruitment via social media platforms
may provide a sample of participants with more variation in
fall risk or alignment of subjective versus objective balance.
Results demonstrate no signicant differences in educational
attainment (p=0.7949) or balance condence (p=0.213), des-
pite signicant differences in the alignment of objective and
subjective fall risk (p=0.031). Participants from samples a
and b proved more able to accurately assess fall risk, while
sample c had the most misalignment between subjective and
objective fall risk assessments.
Session 9385 (Poster)
MINORITY AND DIVERSE POPULATIONS
ARE AGE DIFFERENCES BETWEEN PARTNERS
RELATED TO GENDER AND GENERATIONS AMONG
MIDDLE-AGED AND OLDER ASIAN AMERICANS?
MinzhiYe,1 and DiMei,2, 1. Benjamin Rose Institue on
Aging, Benjamin Rose Institue on Aging, Ohio, United
States, 2. The University of Hong Kong, The University of
Hong Kong, Not Applicable, Hong Kong
Previous research has shown that women who immigrate
to the United States tend to partner with much older spouses.
However, most studies have focused on young people and
rst-generations. Spousal age differences among older Asian
Americans with different generations have not been well
studied. Using data from the Annual Social and Economic
Supplement survey (2013-2019), we employed the segmented
assimilation theory to test 7,064 married middle-aged and
Innovation in Aging, 2021, Vol. 5, No. S1 875
GSA 2021 Annual Scientific Meeting
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