title: Age patterns of racial/ethnic/nativity differences in disability and physical functioning in the United States.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Rapid population aging and increasing racial/ethnic and immigrant/native diversity make a broad documentation of U.S. health patterns during both mid- and late life particularly important.
  
  
  OBJECTIVE
  We aim to better understand age- and gender-specific racial/ethnic and nativity differences in physical functioning and disability among adults aged 50 and above.
  
  
  METHODS
  We aggregate 14 years of data from the National Health Interview Survey and calculate age- and gender-specific proportions of physical functioning and two types of disability for each population subgroup.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Middle-aged foreign-born individuals in nearly every subgroup exhibit lower proportions of functional limitations and disability than U.S.-born whites. This pattern of immigrant advantage is generally reversed in later life. Moreover, most U.S.-born minority groups have significantly higher levels of functional limitations and disability than U.S.-born whites in both mid- and late life.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Higher levels of functional limitations and disability among U.S.-born minority groups and immigrant populations in older adulthood pose serious challenges for health providers and policymakers in a rapidly diversifying and aging population.
authors.affiliation: The University of Texas at Austin, U.S.A. jmelvin@utexas.edu .
authors.forename: Jennifer
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Melvin
authors.affiliation: The University of Texas at Austin, U.S.A.
authors.forename: Robert
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Hummer
authors.affiliation: The University of Pennsylvania, U.S.A.
authors.forename: Irma
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Elo
authors.affiliation: Emory University, U.S.A.
authors.forename: Neil
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Mehta