HISPANIC AND LATINO AMERICAN ELDERS

HISPANIC AND LATINO AMERICAN ELDERS
By the year 2030, Hispanic American elderly will be
the largest minority elderly group in the United States.
Of all races’ elders segments, Hispanic American
elders are projected to grow most rapidly, from 1.5
million in 2000 to 13.8 in 2050. Hispanic American
elders consisted of 50% Mexican, American, 17%
Cuban American, 11% Puerto Rican American, and
24% Other Hispanic Americans in 2002. Elders con-
stitute a rather small percentage of the Hispanic and
Latino population: 4% of Mexican Americans, 5% of
Americans from South and Central America, and 6%
of Puerto Ricans  are elderly. The exception is Cuban
Americans, of whom 21% are classified as elderly.
The health status of Hispanics in the southwestern
United States is comparable to the health status of
non-Hispanic European Americans. Life expectancies
at birth are 76.0 for Hispanic males and 83.0 for
Ethnic Minority Elderly Individuals———193females in California, and 71.0 for Puerto Ricans in
the commonwealth. A closer examination of this
Hispanic paradox is warranted, because there are bet-
ter mortality outcomes despite Hispanics being more
socioeonomically disadvantaged in infancy and at
older ages.
A few large-scale studies include Hispanic
Americans adults over 60 years of age, but they show a
26%rate ofmajor depression,with 20.5%of those indi-
viduals having a comorbid health problem or higher
rates of somatic symptoms (difficulty sleeping and loss
of appetite), high blood pressure, or other chronic dis-
eases, such as diabetes.HispanicAmerican elderlymay
be at higher risk of developing Alzheimer’s disease.
Research should attempt to determine causal factors
(e.g., link to diabetes) that contribute to the poorermen-
tal health status amongHispanic elders.