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Incidence of Physical Impairment and Disability in Puerto Rican Adults: The Boston Puerto Rican Health Study
Author(s) -
Castaneda-Sceppa Carmen,
Price Lori Lyn,
Falcon Luis,
Tucker Katherine L.
Publication year - 2012
Publication title -
the faseb journal
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.709
H-Index - 277
eISSN - 1530-6860
pISSN - 0892-6638
DOI - 10.1096/fasebj.26.1_supplement.367.4
Subject(s) - medicine , gerontology , incidence (geometry) , demography , grip strength , poverty , logistic regression , population , puerto rican , abdominal obesity , obesity , metabolic syndrome , physical therapy , environmental health , physics , sociology , economic growth , anthropology , optics , economics
We examined incidence of physical impairment (low handgrip strength, slow gait speed and chair stand time); and disability (difficulty with ≥1 Activity of Daily Living) in the Boston Puerto Rican Health Study two years after baseline measures were taken in 1166 adults (45–75 y) with no impairment. Stepwise logistic regression models for each impairment and disability outcome were run with the following candidate baseline variables: components of the metabolic syndrome, C‐reactive protein (CRP >3.0 mg/dL), vitamin D deficiency (<15 ng/mL), age (≥60 y), sex, poverty, smoking, and physical activity score; adjusted for the time (25±5 mo) between baseline and follow‐up visits. Male participants as well as those living in poverty and having high blood pressure were more likely to develop handgrip impairment. Age, poverty, and high CRP were associated with incident low gait speed (<0.8 m/s). Incident impaired chair stand time (≥11.2 s) was associated with poverty and abdominal obesity, while high blood pressure was not. Women were more likely than men to develop ADL disability (All P<0.05). These findings underline a possible role of poverty in the development of physical impairment, independent of known factors that contribute to the disablement process. They suggest that factors upstream to the individual should be considered when addressing population health disparities. Support: NIH P01AG023394 and P50HL105185.