Sex differences in mortality among older frail Mexican Americans.
OBJECTIVE
To examine the association between frailty and 10-year mortality among older men and women of Mexican American origin.


METHODS
Data were collected from 1995-1996 through 2004-2005 among community-dwelling Mexican Americans aged >or=65 years as part of the Hispanic Established Population for the Epidemiologic Study of the Elderly (HEPESE). A standardized frailty measure based on weight loss, exhaustion, grip strength, walking speed, and physical activity was computed. Data were collected on sociodemographics and health characteristics, comorbidities, and performance-based functional measure.


RESULTS
The sample was 59% female, and mean baseline age was 74.5 years of (SD 6.06) at baseline. Hazard ratios (HR) indicated an increased mortality risk in frail men (HR = 3.04, 95% CI 2.16-4.28) compared with frail women (HR = 1.92, 95% CI 1.39-2.65).


CONCLUSIONS
Frailty is an independent predictor of mortality among older men and women of Mexican American origin. This association was found to be stronger among men after adjusting for age, marital status, education, body mass index (BMI), health behaviors, and medical conditions.
Berges
Ivonne-Marie
IM
Division of Rehabilitation Sciences, University of Texas Medical Branch, Galveston, Texas 77555-0460, USA. imberges@utmb.edu
Graham
James E
JE
Ostir
Glenn V
GV
Markides
Kyriakos S
KS
Ottenbacher
Kenneth J
KJ
D000058:Accidental Falls / Q000401:mortality; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D015992:Body Mass Index; D002423:Cause of Death; D016001:Confidence Intervals; D005260:Female; D050723:Fractures, Bone / Q000208:ethnology / Q000401:mortality*; D016330:Frail Elderly / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D015577:Geriatric Assessment / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D006304:Health Status; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D017058:Mexican Americans / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D016017:Odds Ratio; D017678:Sex Distribution; D012959:Socioeconomic Factors; D015996:Survival Rate; D014481:United States / Q000453:epidemiology