Sex differences in mortality among older frail Mexican Americans.

Objective: To examine the association between frailty and 10-year mortality among older men and women of Mexican American origin.

Methods: Data were collected from 1995-1996 through 2004-2005 among community-dwelling Mexican Americans aged >or=65 years as part of the Hispanic Established Population for the Epidemiologic Study of the Elderly (HEPESE). A standardized frailty measure based on weight loss, exhaustion, grip strength, walking speed, and physical activity was computed. Data were collected on sociodemographics and health characteristics, comorbidities, and performance-based functional measure.

Results: The sample was 59% female, and mean baseline age was 74.5 years of (SD 6.06) at baseline. Hazard ratios (HR) indicated an increased mortality risk in frail men (HR = 3.04, 95% CI 2.16-4.28) compared with frail women (HR = 1.92, 95% CI 1.39-2.65).

Conclusions: Frailty is an independent predictor of mortality among older men and women of Mexican American origin. This association was found to be stronger among men after adjusting for age, marital status, education, body mass index (BMI), health behaviors, and medical conditions.