Mexican Health and Aging Study Biomarker and Genetic Data Profile.

The Mexican Health and Aging Study (MHAS) is one of the largest ongoing longitudinal studies of aging in Latin America, with six waves over 20 years. MHAS includes sociodemographic, economic, and health data from a nationally representative sample of adults 50 years and older in urban and rural Mexico. MHAS is designed to study the impact of diseases on adults' health, function, and mortality.

Economic Disadvantage During Childhood, Obesity, and Diabetes Across Three Birth Cohorts of Older Mexicans.

Objectives: Diabetes prevalence has increased markedly in Mexico. We examined the individual and joint contributions of economic disadvantage during childhood (EDDC) and elevated body weight on diabetes prevalence in 3 cohorts of Mexican adults.

Methods: Data on those 60-69 years old from the 1930-1939, 1940-1949, and 1950-1959 birth cohorts in Waves 1 (2001), 3 (2012), and 5 (2018) of the Mexican Health and Aging Study were used.

Prior incarceration length and edentulism among formerly incarcerated older adults in the United States.

Background: This study investigated the association between prior incarceration length and edentulism among US adults 55 years and older. Analyses explored indirect factors such as wealth, smoking status, mental health, and chronic health conditions that may explain this relationship. In addition, the study analyzed how associations between incarceration and edentulism vary by race and ethnicity.

Population-level trends in self-reported healthcare utilization among older adults in Mexico with and without cognitive impairment.

Background: Older adults with cognitive impairment exhibit different patterns of healthcare utilization compared to their cognitively healthy counterparts. Despite extensive research in high-income countries, similar studies in low- and middle-income countries are lacking. This study aims to investigate the population-level patterns in healthcare utilization among older adults with and without cognitive impairment in Mexico.

History of Incarceration and Dental Care Use Among Older Adults in the United States.

Introduction: Dental care is a critical component of healthy aging; however, emerging evidence suggests that having been previously incarcerated is a risk factor for not using dental care services. This study investigates the relationship between prior incarceration and dental care among older adults and assesses whether wealth and dental insurance explain this relationship.

Methods: Data are from the Health and Retirement Study, a nationally representative sample of community-dwelling older adults in the United States, collected in 2012 and 2014.

Considerations When Designing and Implementing Pragmatic Clinical Trials That Include Older Hispanics.

Introduction: Pragmatic clinical trials (PCTs) are designed to connect researchers with clinicians to assess the real-world effectiveness and feasibility of interventions, treatments, or health care delivery strategies in routine practice. Within PCTs larger, more representative sampling is possible to improve the external validity of the research. Older adults from underrepresented groups can benefit from PCTs given their historically lower engagement in clinical research.

The Association of Vision and Hearing Impairment on Cognitive Function and Loneliness: Evidence From the Mexican Health and Aging Study.

We investigated whether self-reported vision and hearing were associated with cognitive function and loneliness among Mexican adults aged 50 and older. Mexican Health and Aging Study data. Vision/hearing status was self-reported (excellent-very good, good, fair-poor).

The dementia care study (D-CARE): Recruitment strategies and demographic characteristics of participants in a pragmatic randomized trial of dementia care.

Introduction: Pragmatic research studies that include diverse dyads of persons living with dementia (PLWD) and their family caregivers are rare.

Methods: Community-dwelling dyads were recruited for a pragmatic clinical trial evaluating three approaches to dementia care. Four clinical trial sites used shared and site-specific recruitment strategies to enroll health system patients.

Patient Priorities Care Increases Long-Term Service and Support Use: Propensity Match Cohort Study.

Objectives: Patient priorities care (PPC) is an evidence-based approach designed to help patients achieve what matters most to them by identifying their health priorities and working with clinicians to align the care they provide to the patient's priorities. This study examined the impact of the PPC approach on long-term service and support (LTSS) use among veterans.

Design: Quasi-experimental study examining differences in LTSS use between veterans exposed to PPC and propensity-matched controls not exposed to PPC adjusting for covariates.

Does a Reduction in Receiving Assistance With Daily Activities Among Older Adults in Mexico Indicate An Increase in Unmet Needs or a Decrease in Needs for Care?

Objectives: The percentage of older adults in Mexico with difficulty completing activities of daily living (ADL) who receive assistance from family appears to be decreasing. We compared 2 birth cohorts of older adults in Mexico to investigate whether this trend reflects an increase in unmet caregiving needs or a decrease in the need for care.

Methods: We selected Mexican Health and Aging Study participants aged 60-76 in 2001 (n = 4,805) and 2018 (n = 6,494).

The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act and oral health care use among formerly incarcerated people in the United States.

Background: Formerly incarcerated people report less frequent oral health care use, despite having more substantial oral health problems. This study aimed to determine whether the adoption of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (ACA) has improved oral health care use among formerly incarcerated people in the United States.

Method: Data were from Wave I (1994-1995), Wave IV (2008), and Wave V (2016-2018) of the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent to Adult Health (n = 9,108), a nationally representative cohort study in the United States.

The impact of insomnia symptoms on obesity among Mexicans aged 50 and older.

Objective: To examine the association between insomnia and obesity in Mexican adults aged 50 and older.

Materials And Methods: We used data from the Mexican Health and Aging Study (2015-2018). Self-reported insomnia was measured using the modified insomnia severity index with scores ranging from zero to six.

20 years of the Mexican Health and Aging Study.

The Mexican Health and Aging Study (MHAS) is a longitudinal study using a national sample of approximately 15,000 community-dwelling adults aged 50 years old and older in Mexico. Spanning over 20 years (2001-2021), six waves of data collection establish the MHAS as the leading data platform for the study of aging in Latin America.

COVID-19 And Mental Health Outcomes Of Older Adults: Evidence From Mexico.

Estimates using data from the Mexican Health and Aging Study, a national longitudinal sample of older adults in Mexico, show elevated risk for negative mental health outcomes for those experiencing COVID-19 infection or major COVID-19-related adverse events. Predicted elevated probabilities were greater for a major adverse event than for COVID-19 infection, and they varied across sociodemographic groups defined by age, sex, education, and urban-rural residence.

Social and Leisure Activities Predict Transitions in Cognitive Functioning in Older Mexican Adults: A Latent Transition Analysis of the Mexican Health and Aging Study.

Objectives: Mexico has a rapidly aging population at risk for cognitive impairment. Social and leisure activities may protect against cognitive decline in older adults. The benefits of these behaviors may vary by patterns of cognitive impairment.

Caregiving to Older Adults With a Physical Limitation: Evidence From the Mexican Health and Aging Study.

Background And Objectives: Many older adults face physical limitations to performing activities of daily life (ADLs) and instrumental activities of daily life (IADLs) and seek help performing them. In Mexico, family caregivers, especially spouses and adult children, traditionally take care of older adults. However, a detailed characterization of the care received has not been thoroughly provided.

Longitudinal associations between cognitive functioning and depressive symptoms among couples in the Mexican Health and Aging Study.

Objective: To examine the bidirectional associations between older adult spouses' cognitive functioning and depressive symptoms over time and replicate previous findings from the United States (US) in Mexico.

Design: Longitudinal, dyadic path analysis with the actor-partner interdependence model.

Setting: Data were from the three most recent interview waves (2012, 2015, and 2018) of the Mexican Health and Aging Study (MHAS), a longitudinal national study of adults aged 50+ years in Mexico.

Effects of diabetes and obesity on cognitive impairment and mortality in older mexicans.

Background: Diabetes is a risk factor for dementia and mortality, while obesity later in life is associated with a reduced risk. Their co-occurrence, diabesity, is common, but its association with dementia and mortality is unclear.

Methods: Using data from the Mexican Health and Aging Study, we used multinomial logistic regression to examine the associations of diabetes and body mass index (BMI), and diabesity, in 2012, with cognitive impairment and mortality in 2018, among participants aged ≥60 years with normal cognition at baseline (n = 7,885).

Midlife Vascular Factors and Prevalence of Mild Cognitive Impairment in Late-Life in Mexico.

Objective: To estimate the prevalence of mild cognitive impairment (MCI) and its subtypes and investigate the impact of midlife cardiovascular risk factors on late-life MCI among the aging Mexican population.

Method: Analyses included a sample of non-demented adults over the age of 55 living in both urban and rural areas of Mexico (N = 1807). MCI diagnosis was assigned based on a comprehensive cognitive assessment assessing the domains of memory, executive functioning, language, and visuospatial ability.

Effect of Demographic and Health Dynamics on Cognitive Status in Mexico between 2001 and 2015: Evidence from the Mexican Health and Aging Study.

Sources of health disparities such as educational attainment, cardiovascular risk factors, and access to health care affect cognitive impairment among older adults. To examine the extent to which these counteracting changes affect cognitive aging over time among Mexican older adults, we examine how sociodemographic factors, cardiovascular diseases, and their treatment relate to changes in cognitive function of Mexican adults aged 60 and older between 2001 and 2015. Self and proxy respondents were classified as dementia, cognitive impairment no dementia (CIND), and normal cognition.

Malnutrition Risk among Older Mexican Adults in the Mexican Health and Aging Study.

Few studies assess the malnutrition risk of older Mexican adults because most studies do not assess nutritional status. This study proposes a modified version of the Mini Nutritional Assessment (MNA) to assess the risk of malnutrition among older Mexicans adults in the Mexican Health and Aging Study (MHAS). Data comes from the 2012, 2015, and 2018 waves of the MHAS, a nationally representative study of Mexicans aged 50 and older.