Open AccessHealth Advantages of Ethnic Density for African American and Mexican American Elderly Individuals
Author(s) -
Kimberly J. Alvarez,
Becca R. Levy
Publication year - 2012
Publication title -
american journal of public health
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 2.284
H-Index - 264
eISSN - 1541-0048
pISSN - 0090-0036
DOI - 10.2105/ajph.2012.300787
Subject(s) - ethnic group , mexican americans , african american , gerontology , demography , health equity , medicine , public health , sociology , ethnology , anthropology , nursing
Research suggests that greater ethnic density correlates with worse health among African Americans but better health among Hispanic Americans. These conflicting patterns may arise from Hispanic American samples being older than African American samples. We found that among 2367 Mexican American and 2790 African American participants older than 65 years, ethnic density predicted lower rates of cardiovascular disease and cancer, adjusting for covariates, showing that the health benefits of ethnic density apply to both minority communities.