FUNCTIONAL STATUS OF MEXICAN-AMERICAN NURSING-HOME RESIDENTS

Objective: To compare sociodemographic characteristics, physical funct ion, and cognition of Mexican American and non-Hispanic white nursing home residents. Design and Setting: Cross-sectional survey of resident s in eight proprietary nursing homes and one Veterans Affairs nursing home in San Antonio, Texas. Subjects: Residents with lengths of stay g reater than or equal to 90 days. Measurements: Sociodemographic charac teristics, residence prior to admission, and dependency in activities of daily living (ADL) were abstracted from the medical record. The Fol stein Mini-Mental State Examination (MMSE) was administered in the res ident's self-selected language to a subset of residents. Main Results: There were 1160 participants, 261 Mexican American (23%) and 899 non- Hispanic white residents (77%). Mexican Americans were younger (77.1 v s 80.7 years), more often men (44% vs 30%), less educated (6.2 vs 10.8 years), and more often dependent on Medicaid funding (66% vs 40%) tha n non-Hispanic whites. Mexican Americans were less independent in feed ing (34% vs 49%), transfers (18% vs 30%), toileting (19% vs 29%), and dressing (12% vs 19%). Mean MMSE scores were different in Mexican Amer icans and non-Hispanic whites (8.93 vs 11.85), and this difference rem ained significant after adjustment for age and education (P = 0.04). A DL function was strongly associated with MMSE (P = 0.0001) and less st rongly associated with ethnicity (P = 0.056) in multiple regression an alysis. Conclusions: This study provides the strongest evidence to dat e that Mexican American nursing home residents are more cognitively an d functionally impaired than non-Hispanic white residents. Further stu dies should explore whether medical conditions, selection and referral patterns or cultural factors explain functional differences between M exican American and non-Hispanic white nursing home residents.