Ethnic differences in expectations for aging among older adults.
Age-expectations of 611 non-Latino white, African-American, and Latino seniors recruited at 14 community-based senior centers in the greater Los Angeles region were compared. Participants completed the Expectations Regarding Aging (ERA-38) Survey, a self-administered instrument with previously demonstrated reliability and validity for measuring age-expectations. Analysis of variance was used to compare unadjusted differences between scores across ethnic groups. To examine whether observed differences persisted after adjusting for health and sociodemographic characteristics, a series of linear regression models was constructed, with the dependent variable being total ERA-38 score and the primary independent variables being African-American and Latino ethnicity (reference group=white), adjusting for age, sex, physical and mental health-related quality of life (HRQoL), medical comorbidity, activity of daily living (ADL) impairments, depression, and education. Latinos had significantly lower overall age-expectations than non-Latino whites or African Americans after adjusting for age and sex (parameter estimate=-3.4, P=.01); this difference persisted after adjusting for health variables including medical comorbidity, HRQoL, ADL impairments, and depression. After adjusting for education, being Latino was no longer significantly associated with lower age-expectations (parameter estimate=-1.9, P=.18). Being African American was not significantly associated with age-expectations in any of the adjusted models. Younger age and better HRQoL were associated with higher age-expectations in all models. In conclusion, of these 611 older adults recruited at senior centers in the greater Los Angeles region, Latinos had significantly lower age-expectations than non-Latino whites and African Americans, even after adjusting for health characteristics, but differences in educational levels explained this difference.
Sarkisian
Catherine A
CA
Department of Medicine, Division of Geriatrics, David Geffen School of Medicine, University of California Los Angeles, 90095, USA. csarkisian@mednet.ucla.edu
Shunkwiler
Sara M
SM
Aguilar
Iris
I
Moore
Alison A
AA
D001741:Black or African American; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D000375:Aging / Q000208:ethnology*; D001294:Attitude to Health; D005260:Female; D006630:Hispanic or Latino; D006801:Humans; D008017:Life Expectancy / Q000208:ethnology*; D015141:Los Angeles / Q000453:epidemiology; D008297:Male; D011159:Population Surveillance; D011788:Quality of Life; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D044465:White People