Physical functioning and survival: Is the link weaker among Latino and black older adults?

ABSTRACT: Measures of physical functioning are among the strongest predictors of mortality, but no previous study has assessed whether the predictive value of such measures varies by race/ethnicity, as has been done for the simple self-rated health question. The current study tests whether the relationship between two measures of physical functioning (the number of self-reported functional limitations and measured walking speed) and mortality is weaker (has a lower hazard ratio) for Latinos and blacks than for whites. Data were drawn from the 1998-2014 waves of the Health and Retirement Study, with mortality follow-up through 2016. We used Cox hazard models with household random effects to test for interactions between race/ethnicity and these measures of physical functioning and verified earlier fi

SUBMITTER: Andrasfay T 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC7316127 | biostudies-literature | 2020 Jun

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature