title: Social support, stressors, and frailty among older Mexican American adults.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  There is little research on the effects of stressors and social support on frailty. Older Mexican Americans, in particular, are at higher risk of medical conditions, such as diabetes, that could contribute to frailty. Given that the Mexican American population is rapidly growing in the United States, it is important to determine whether there are modifiable social factors related to frailty in this older group.
  
  
  METHODS
  To address the influence of social support and stressors on frailty among older Mexican Americans, we utilized five waves of the Hispanic Established Populations for the Epidemiologic Study of the Elderly (Hispanic EPESE) to examine the impact of stressors and social support on frailty over a 12-year period. Using a modified version of the Fried and Walston Frailty Index, we estimated the effects of social support and stressors on frailty over time using trajectory modeling (SAS 9.2, PROC TRAJ).
  
  
  RESULTS
  We first grouped respondents according to one of three trajectories: low, progressive moderate, and progressive high frailty. Second, we found that the effects of stressors and social support on frailty varied by trajectory and by type of stressor. Health-related stressors and financial strain were related to increases in frailty over time, whereas social support was related to less-steep increases in frailty.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Frailty has been hypothesized to reflect age-related physiological vulnerability to stressors, and the analyses presented indicate partial support for this hypothesis in an older sample of Mexican Americans. Future research needs to incorporate measures of stressors and social support in examining those who become frail, especially in minority populations.
authors.affiliation: Department of Preventive Medicine and Community Health, University of Texas Medical Branch, Galveston, TX 77555-1150, USA. mkpeek@utmb.edu
authors.forename: M Kristen
authors.initials: MK
authors.lastname: Peek
authors.forename: Bret T
authors.initials: BT
authors.lastname: Howrey
authors.forename: Rafael Samper
authors.initials: RS
authors.lastname: Ternent
authors.forename: Laura A
authors.initials: LA
authors.lastname: Ray
authors.forename: Kenneth J
authors.initials: KJ
authors.lastname: Ottenbacher
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D015897:Comorbidity; D003920:Diabetes Mellitus / Q000208:ethnology; D005260:Female; D016330:Frail Elderly / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D006304:Health Status; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D017058:Mexican Americans / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D011788:Quality of Life; D012044:Regression Analysis; D012111:Residence Characteristics / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D012307:Risk Factors; D012944:Social Support; D013315:Stress, Psychological / Q000208:ethnology; D014481:United States / Q000453:epidemiology