Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Acculturation and Disability Rates Among Filipino-Americans

  • Original Paper
  • Published:
Journal of Immigrant and Minority Health Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

Filipinos are the fastest growing Asian subgroup in America. Among immigrants, higher acculturation (adaptation to host society) predicts disability outcomes and may relate to disability prevalence among older Filipinos. We conducted a secondary analysis of the 2006 American Community Survey using a representative sample of older Filipinos (2,113 males; 3,078 females) to measure functional limitations, limitations in activities of daily living, blindness/deafness and memory/learning problems. Filipino males who were Americans by birth/naturalization had higher odds of blindness/deafness (OR 2.94; 95 % CI = 1.69, 5.12) than non-citizens. Males who spoke English at home had higher odds of blindness/deafness (OR 1.82; 95 % CI = 1.05, 3.17) and memory/learning problems (OR 2.28; 95 % CI = 1.25, 4.15), while females had higher odds of memory/learning problems (OR 1.75; 95 % CI = 1.13, 2.73). Acculturation is associated with greater odds of disabilities for Filipino men. Males may be more sensitive to acculturation-effects than females due to culturally prescribed roles and gender-specific experiences at the time of immigration.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  1. Ghosh C. Healthy people 2010 and Asian Americans or Pacific Islanders: defining a baseline of information. Am J Public Health. 2003;93:2093–8.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  2. Yu ESH, Liu WT. U.S. national health data on Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders: a research agenda for the 1990s. Am J Public Health. 1992;82:1645–52.

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  3. Chen MS, Hawks BL. A debunking of the myth of healthy Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders. Am J Health Promot. 1995;9:261–8.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  4. Douglas KC, Fujimoto D. Asian Pacific elders: implications for health care providers. Clin Geriatr Med. 1995;11:69–82.

    PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  5. Kuo J, Porter K. Health status of Asian Americans: United States, 1992–94. Adv Data. 1998;298:1–16.

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  6. U.S. Census Bureau. We the people: Asians in the United States, Census 2000 special reports. Available at http://www.census.gov/prod/2004pubs/censr-17.pdf. Updated 2004. Accessed 20 Oct 2010.

  7. Mui AC, Shibusawa T. Asian American elders in the twenty-first century: key indicators of well-being. 2008. p. 208.

  8. Javier J, Huffman L, Mendoza F. Filipino child health in the United States: do health and health care disparities exist? Prev Chronic Dis. 2007;4:A36.

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  9. DeLaCruz F, McBride M, Compas L, Calixto PR, Van Derveer C. White paper on the health status of Filipino Americans and recommendations for research. Nurs Outlook. 2002;50:7–15.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  10. Halfon N, Hochstein M. Life course health development: an integrated framework for developing health, policy, and research. Milbank Q. 2002; 80:433–79, iii.

  11. Gomez S, Kelsey J, Glaser S, Lee M, Sidney S. Immigration and acculturation in relation to health and health-related risk factors among specific Asian subgroups in a health maintenance organization. Am J Public Health. 2004;94:1977–84.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  12. Wise P. The transformation of child health in the United States. Health affairs (Project Hope). 2004;23:9–25.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  13. Fuller-Thomson E, Rotermann M, Ray JG. Elevated risk factors for adverse pregnancy outcomes among Filipina-Canadian women. J Obstet Gynaecol Can. 2010;32:113–9.

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  14. Cuasay LC, Sue Lee E, Orlander PP, Steffen-Batey L, Hans CL. Prevalence and determinants of Type 2 Diabetes among Filipino-Americans in the Houston, Texas metropolitan statistics area. Diabetes Care. 2001;24:2054–8.

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  15. Chu KC, Chu KT. 1999–2001 cancer mortality rates for Asian and Pacific Islander ethnic groups with comparisons to their 1988–1992 rates. Cancer. 2005;104(12 Suppl):2989–98.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  16. Cho Y, Hummer R. Disability status differentials across fifteen Asian and Pacific Islander groups and the effect of nativity and duration of residence in the U.S. Soc Biol. 2001;48:171–95.

    PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  17. Kim G, Chiriboga DA, Jang Y, Lee S, Huang C, Parmelee P. Heatlh status of older Asian Americans in California. J Am Geriatr Soc. 2010;58:2003–8.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  18. Fuller-Thomson E, Brennenstuhl S, Hurd M. Comparison of disability rates among older adults in aggregated and separate Asian American or Pacific Islander subpopulations. Am J Public Health. 2010;101:94–100.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  19. Helvik AS, Krokstad S, Tambs K. Socioeconomic inequalities in hearing loss in a healthy population sample: The HUNT Study. Am J Public Health. 2009;99(8):1376–8.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  20. Rabinowitz PM, Kanta D, Sircar KD, Tarabar S, Galusha D, Slade MD. Hearing loss among migrant agricultural workers. J Agromedicine. 2005;10(4):9–17.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  21. Roodhooft JM. Leading causes of blindness worldwide. Bull Soc Belge Ophtalmol. 2002;283:19–25.

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  22. Anton SD, Manini TM, Milsom VA, et al. Effects of a weight loss plus exercise program on physical function in overweight, older women: a randomized controlled trial. Clin Interv Aging. 2011;6:141–9.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  23. Paterson K, Hill K, Lythgo N. Stride dynamics, gait variability and prospective falls risk in active community dwelling older women. Gait Posture. 2011;33(2):251–5.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  24. Nuru-Jeter AM, Thorpe RJ Jr, Fuller-Thomson E. Black-white differences in self-reported disability outcomes in the U.S.: early childhood to older adulthood. Public Health Rep. 2011;126(6):834–43.

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  25. Gorman BK, Read JG. Gender disparities in adult health: an examination of three measures of morbidity. J Health Social Behav. 2006;47(2):95–110.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  26. Macintyre S, Hunt K, Sweeting H. Gender differences in health: are things really as simple as they seem? Soc Sci Med. 1996;42(4):617–24.

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  27. Murray JLC, Lopez AD. Alternative projections of mortality and disability by cause 1990–2020: global burden of disease study. Lancet. 1997;349(9064):1498–504.

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  28. Singh G, Miller B. Health, life expectancy, and mortality patterns among immigrant populations in the United States. Can Journal Public Health. 2004;95:I14–21.

    Google Scholar 

  29. Minkler M, Fuller-Thomson E, Guralnik J. Gradient of disability across the socioeconomic spectrum in the United States. N Engl J Med. 2006;355:695–703.

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  30. Mutchler JE, Pracash A, Burr JA. The demography of disability and the effects of immigrant history: older Asians in the United States. Demography. 2007;44:251–63.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  31. Fuller-Thomson E, Yu B, Nuru-Jeter A, Guralnik J, Minkler M. Basic ADL disability and functional limitation rates among older Americans from 2000–2005: the end of the decline? J Gerontol Ser A Biol Sci Medical Sci. 2009;64:1333–6.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  32. Mui A, Kang SY. Acculturation stress and depression among Asian immigrant elders. Soc Work. 2006;51:243–55.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  33. Jane Field M, Jette MA, & of Medicine (U.S.). Committee on disability in America: a new look, I. The future of disability in America. 2007. p. 592.

  34. U.S. Census Bureau. American Community Survey (ACS). Available at: http://www.census.gov/acs/www/acs-php/quality_measures_response_ 2006.php. Updated 2007. Accessed Jan 2011.

  35. Use A—US Bureau of the Census. Design and methodology, American Community Survey. Washington, US Government Printing Office, 2009.

  36. McBride M. Health and health care of Filipino American elders [online]. Available at http:ororwww.standford.eduorgrouporethnogerorfilipino.html. Accessed Jan 2011.

  37. Dey A, Lucas J. Physical and mental health characteristics of U.S.- and foreign-born adults: United States, 1998–2003. Advance data. 2006;369:1–19.

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  38. Frisbie W, Cho Y, Hummer R. Immigration and the health of Asian and Pacific Islander adults in the United States. Am J Epidemiol. 2001;153:372–80.

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  39. Merrill SS, Seeman TE, Kasl SV, Berkman LF. Gender differences in the comparison of self-reported disability and performance measures. J Gerontol A Biol Sci Med Sci. 1997;52(1):M19–26.

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  40. Rodrigues MA, Facchini LA, Thumé E, Maia F. Gender and incidence of functional disability in the elderly: a systematic review. Cad Saúde Pública Rio de Janeiro. 2009;25(Sup 3):S464–76.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  41. Braveman PA, Cubbin C, Egerter S, Chideya S, Marchi KS, Metzler M, et al. Socioeconomic status in health research: one size does not fit all. J Am Med Assoc. 2005;294:2879–88.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  42. Schoeni RF, Martin LG, Andreski PM, Freedman VA. Persistent and growing socioeconomic disparities in disability among the elderly: 1982–2002. Am J Public Health. 2005;95:2065–70.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  43. American Coalition for Filipino Veterans Inc. History. Available at: http://usfilvets.tripod.com/id10.html. Accessed May 2012.

  44. Williams DR. Socioeconomic differences in health: A review and redirection. Soc Phsychol Q. 53: 81–99. 1990. In Williams DR, Lavizzo-Mourey R, Warren RC. The concept of race and health status in America. Public Health Rep 1994: 26–41.

    Google Scholar 

  45. Marmot MG, Adelstein AM, Bulusu L. Lessons from the study of immigrant mortality. Lancet. 1984;112:1455–7.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  46. Landale NS, Oropesa RS, Lanes DL, Gorman BK. Does Americanization have adverse effects on health?: stress, health habits, and infant health outcomes among Puerto Ricans. Soc Forces. 1999;78:613–42.

    Google Scholar 

  47. Lee RD, Enmsminger ME, LaVeist TA. The responsibility continuum: never primary, coresident and caregiver heterogeneity in the African American grandmother experience. Int J Aging Human Dev. 2005;60:295–304.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  48. Kington RS, Smith JP. Socioeconomic status and racial and ethnic differences in functional status associated with chronic diseases. Am J Public Health. 1997;87:805–10.

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  49. Ofstedal MB, Zimmer Z, Hermalin AI, Chan A, Chuang Y, Natividad J, Tang Z. Short-term trends in functional limitation and disability among older Asians: a comparison of five Asian settings. J Cross Cult Gerontol. 2007;22:243–61.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  50. Oza-Frank R, Stephenson R, Venkat Narayan KM. Diabetes prevalence by length of residence among US immigrants. J Immigrant Minority Health. 2011;13:1–8.

    Article  Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgments

The authors would like to thank Rachel Zhou for her assistance with preparation of the tables.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Institute of Medical Sciences, University of Toronto, Toronto, ON, Canada

    Leanne R. De Souza

  2. Sandra Rotman Chair in Social Work, Factor Inwentash Faculty of Social Work, University of Toronto, 246 Bloor Street West, Toronto, ON, M5S 1V4, Canada

    Esme Fuller-Thomson

Authors
  1. Leanne R. De Souza
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Esme Fuller-Thomson
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Leanne R. De Souza.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

De Souza, L.R., Fuller-Thomson, E. Acculturation and Disability Rates Among Filipino-Americans. J Immigrant Minority Health 15, 462–471 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10903-012-9708-1

Download citation

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10903-012-9708-1

Keywords

Search

Navigation