Minority Predoctoral Fellowship Program

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DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): The purpose of the proposed research is to use the Disablement Process model to examine mechanisms through which neighborhood characteristics influence the development of disability and the risk of mortality in older Mexican Americans. This project will use longitudinal data from the Hispanic Established Population for the Epidemiological Study of the Elderly (Hispanic EPESE), a probability sample of 3,050 older Mexican Americans residing in five southwestern states. These data will be geocoded and merged with 1990 and 2000 US Census data. Primary outcomes include disability & mortality while secondary outcomes include medical conditions, cognitive & sensory impairments, and lower body function. The following are specific aims for the proposed project: Aim 1. Determine whether neighborhood socioeconomic characteristics and neighborhood assimilation (lower percent concentration of Mexican Americans) are associated with stages of the Disablement Process model (pathology >>> impairment >>> functional limitation >>> disability) and mortality. Aim 2. Determine whether changes in neighborhood socioeconomic characteristics and percent concentration of Mexican Americans between 1990 and 2000 correlate with stages of the Disablement Process model (pathology >>> impairment >>> functional limitation >>> disability) and mortality.