title: How do race and Hispanic ethnicity affect nursing home admission? Evidence from the Health and Retirement Study.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  This study investigates how health- and disability-based need factors and enabling factors (e.g., socioeconomic and family-based resources) relate to nursing home admission among 3 different racial and ethnic groups.
  
  
  METHODS
  We use Cox proportional hazard models to estimate differences in nursing home admission for non-Hispanic whites, non-Hispanic blacks, and Hispanics from 1998 to 2010 in the Health and Retirement Study (N = 18,952).
  
  
  RESULTS
  Racial-ethnic differences in nursing home admission are magnified after controlling for health- and disability-based need factors and enabling factors. Additionally, the degree to which specific factors contribute to risk of nursing home admission varies significantly across racial-ethnic groups.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Our findings indicate that substantial racial and ethnic variations in nursing home admission continue to exist and that Hispanic use is particularly low. We argue that these differences may demonstrate a significant underuse of nursing homes for racial and ethnic minorities. Alternatively, they could signify different preferences for nursing home care, perhaps due to unmeasured cultural factors or structural obstacles.
authors.affiliation: Department of Sociology, University of Alabama at Birmingham. mthomeer@uab.edu.
authors.forename: Mieke Beth
authors.initials: MB
authors.lastname: Thomeer
authors.affiliation: Edward R. Roybal Institute on Aging, School of Social Work, University of Southern California, Los Angeles.
authors.forename: Stipica
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Mudrazija
authors.affiliation: Department of Sociology, Lyndon B. Johnson School of Public Affairs, and Population Research Center, The University of Texas at Austin.
authors.forename: Jacqueline L
authors.initials: JL
authors.lastname: Angel
mesh_terms: D000203:Activities of Daily Living; D044383:Black People / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D004185:Disability Evaluation; D006630:Hispanic or Latino / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D006707:Homes for the Aged / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D006801:Humans; D009735:Nursing Homes / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D016016:Proportional Hazards Models; D012959:Socioeconomic Factors; D014481:United States; D044465:White People / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D001741:Black or African American
keywords: Hispanic ethnicity; Long-term care; Nursing homes; Race.