Health Disparities and Delayed Healthcare among Older Adults in California

Purposes:  Giving the growing number and size of minority and immigrant elders in the United States, knowledge concerning the effects of minority and immigration status on elderly health is imperative.  This study is to 1) compare health status across groups of U.S. elders with different race/ethnicity and immigration status, and 2) examine relationships among minority/immigration status, delayed healthcare and elderly health. 

Methods:  This study uses the data from the California Health Interview Survey 2009, with 15,174 respondents age 65 and above, including seven groups: foreign-born Latinos, Asians and Whites, U.S.-born Latinos, Asians, Whites, and African Americans.  Key variables include self-assessed health, delayed healthcare, and demographics.  Random effect regression models were adopted.  All models control for personal demographics. 

Results: Results indicate that whites (regardless of migration status) and U.S.-born Asians enjoy better health than U.S.-born Latinos and African Americans, whose health status is better than foreign-born Latinos’ and Asians’.  Delayed use of healthcare is more prominent among U.S.-born Latinos and African Americans. The effect of delayed healthcare on health status is stronger in foreign-born Asian elders than U.S.-born whites. 

Implications: Health disparities exist in U.S. older adult populations; the jointed effect due to minority and migration status can be approximated from the results in this study.  The magnitude of structural racism in the life of older adults cannot be underestimated.  Further investigation is needed to understand the effect of other factors (e.g., cultural practice, and living arrangements) on Asian elderly’s health.