title: Hispanic older adult mortality in the United States: new estimates and an assessment of factors shaping the Hispanic paradox.
abstract: Hispanics make up a rapidly growing proportion of the U.S. older adult population, so a firm grasp of their mortality patterns is paramount for identifying racial/ethnic differences in life chances in the population as a whole. Documentation of Hispanic mortality is also essential for assessing whether the Hispanic paradox--the similarity in death rates between Hispanics and non-Hispanic whites despite Hispanics' socioeconomic disadvantage--characterizes all adult Hispanics or just some age, gender, nativity, or national-origin subgroups. We estimate age-/sex- and cause-specific mortality rate ratios and life expectancy for foreign-born and U.S.-born Hispanics, foreign-born and U.S.-born Mexican Americans, non-Hispanic blacks, and non-Hispanic whites ages 65 and older using the 1989-2006 National Health Interview Survey Linked Mortality Files. Results affirm that Hispanic mortality estimates are favorable relative to those of blacks and whites, but particularly so for foreign-born Hispanics and smoking-related causes. However, if not for Hispanics' socioeconomic disadvantage, their mortality levels would be even more favorable.
authors.affiliation: Population Research Institute and Department of Sociology, Duke University, 271 Soc-Psyc Building, Campus Box 90088, Durham, NC, 27708, USA, joseph.lariscy@duke.edu.
authors.forename: Joseph T
authors.initials: JT
authors.lastname: Lariscy
authors.forename: Robert A
authors.initials: RA
authors.lastname: Hummer
authors.forename: Mark D
authors.initials: MD
authors.lastname: Hayward
mesh_terms: D017677:Age Distribution; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D002423:Cause of Death; D005260:Female; D006630:Hispanic or Latino / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D006801:Humans; D008017:Life Expectancy / Q000208:ethnology*; D008297:Male; D017058:Mexican Americans / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D044469:Racial Groups / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D017678:Sex Distribution; D012907:Smoking / Q000208:ethnology; D012959:Socioeconomic Factors; D014481:United States / Q000453:epidemiology