HIGHER INSTRUMENTAL ACTIVITIES OF DAILY LIVING DISABILITY IN HISPANICS COMPARED WITH NON-HISPANIC WHITES IN RURAL COLORADO - THE SAN-LUIS-VALLEY HEALTH AND AGING STUDY

This study examined Hispanic versus non-Hispanic white patterns of nee ding assistance with instrumental activities of daily living (IADL). T he authors interviewed 798 Hispanic and 614 non-Hispanic white residen ts of rural Colorado, who were aged 60 years and older between 1993 an d 1995. Seventy-five participants were nursing home residents at the t ime of the interview. Community-dwelling Hispanics were 1.6 times as l ikely as non-Hispanic whites to need assistance with at least one IADL task (95% confidence interval 1.25-2.13). A larger proportion of disa bled non-Hispanic whites were in nursing homes but, after including nu rsing home residents, Hispanics remained significantly more likely to need assistance on at least one IADL task (odds ratio = 1.49, 95% conf idence interval 1.16-1.93). Hispanics were also more likely to have di fficulty on observed performance tasks. The Hispanic excess was not re moved by adjusting for chronic disease, reported difficulty walking, o r income. English language proficiency adjustment lowered the Hispanic excess, but adjusting for years of education or Mini-Mental State Exa mination scores more completely removed the ethnic differences. Higher education was protective for both Hispanic and non-Hispanic white eld erly. Efforts to further investigate what facets or correlates of educ ation are operating may offer useful insights into limiting IADL diffi culties in future cohorts.