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Biomedical subjects

K S Markides

Publications and source records attributed to K S Markides.

At least 91 records · Page 5Linked to original sources
PubMed1985

Determinants of physician utilization among Mexican-Americans. A three-generations study.

Determinants of physician utilization were examined using a three-generational sample of Mexican-Americans in San Antonio. A typical version of Andersen's causal behavioral model was moderately successful in predicting physician utilization in the middle and older generations and less successful in the younger generation. Consistent with the literature, need factors (health indicators) tended to affect utilization most directly. The authors also examined whether acculturation into the larger society positively influenced utilization regardless of need, as the literature suggested. While three separate measures of acculturation had no independent effects on physician utilization, acculturation did affect utilization indirectly via the need variables in the middle generation, although these effects were not consistently in the direction of greater utilization. Generational differences in determinants of physician utilization are discussed particularly in relation to the model's greater relevance for the middle and older generations.

Acculturation↗
PubMed1984

Aging and health: a longitudinal study.

A set of double jeopardy hypotheses predicting there is a double health disadvantage in growing old and being a member of an ethnic minority, female, of lower socioeconomic status, and unmarried is tested with data from a 4-yr longitudinal study of older Mexican Americans and Anglos. With the exception of socioeconomic status, little support is found for the double jeopardy predictions in a multivariate analysis of change in health. When subjects who died during the study interval were included in the analysis by assigning them the lowest score on health, the results changed somewhat: the relationship between age and decline in health was strengthened and the effect of sex changed from a direction suggesting that women show greater declines in health with age to a direction suggesting that men experience greater declines in health with age. Implications of the effect of decreased dropouts for studies on aging and health are discussed.

Aged↗
PubMed1984

Selective survival, aging and society.

The concept of selective survival to advanced ages is introduced and discussed in relation to the black/white mortality "crossover" in the United States. Crossover refers to the phenomenon wherein black mortality rates become lower than white mortality rates after approximately age 75. This reversal of mortality rates between advantaged and disadvantaged populations also occurs between Native Americans and whites. Such crossovers have significant implications for explaining differences in patterns of aging across populations. We argue that higher rates of selective survival in disadvantaged, high mortality populations result in a greater proportion of healthy, very old people who may require less nursing-home care, who have low suicide rates, and who enjoy higher status in the family and community. Differences between populations with regard to selective survival imply that chronological age alone is not always a useful measure of aging and old age. Finally, we identify further lines of inquiry about selective survival and its effects on aging.

Black or African American↗
PubMed1984

Aging, sex-role orientation, and adjustment: a three-generations study of Mexican Americans.

The effect of sex-role orientation on psychological well-being was investigated with data from a three-generations study of Mexican Americans. More specifically, we examined the hypothesis that less traditional sex-role orientation is positively related to psychological well-being (other things equal) and that this relationship is stronger among the older than among younger generations. Traditional sex-role orientation was positively related to depression among older women, lending partial support to the hypothesis. Among men, however, traditional sex-role orientation was not related to well-being in the older generation but was related to both depression and life satisfaction in the younger generation. The interactive effects of marital status and retirement status with sex-role orientation were also examined but were not found to be significant.

Aging↗
PubMed1983

Ethnicity, aging and society: theoretical lessons from the United States experience.

Social gerontological theory in the United States has developed without attention to ethnic minority groups. Recent theoretical developments in the field of ethnic minority aging are reviewed with particular emphasis on the double jeopardy hypothesis that stresses the double disadvantage of minority status and of growing old. It is further suggested that the field of ethnicity and aging can profit from applications of the modernization theory of aging, assimilation theory, and the 'internal colonialism' perspective from the race and ethnic relations literature.

Aged↗
PubMed1983

Aging, religiosity, and adjustment: a longitudinal analysis.

The relationships between church attendance, self-rated religiosity, and private prayer with aging are investigated with longitudinal data on older Mexican-Americans and Anglos. It is found that church attendance and practice of private prayer remained relatively stable over time (4 years) and that self-rated religiosity increased somewhat. Of the three measures only church attendance showed a significant effect on life satisfaction (net of other important predictors of life satisfaction) for both ethnic groups and at both points of observation. Among Anglos the effect of church attendance on life satisfaction increased significantly during the study interval.

Aged↗
PubMed1981

Perceptions of intergenerational relations and psychological well-being among elderly Mexican Americans: a causal model.

A simple path analysis model is applied to data on ninety-eight older Mexican Americans residing in southwest San Antonio. Measures of perceived intergenerational solidarity and activity are treated as intervening variables between health and socioeconomic status on the one hand and life satisfaction on the other. The addition of intergenerational solidarity to the other three independent variables found to be consistent predictors of life satisfaction in previous research contributes significantly to the explanation of life satisfaction. The variable fails, however, to play a significant intervening role except between health and life satisfaction.

Aged↗
PubMed1979

A causal model of life satisfaction among the elderly.

A path analysis model of life satisfaction is proposed and applied to data from interviews with 141 persons aged 60 years and over. Predictor variables examined are self-reported health, income, education and an activity index. The analysis was conducted separately for the two sexes. Health and activityemerge as strong predictors of life satisfaction while income influences life satisfaction indirectly via activity. The importance of investigating direct and indirect effects of variables via path analysis is discussed.

Age Factors↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Factors influencing unawareness of hypertension among older Mexican Americans.

BACKGROUND: The objective of the study was to identify factors associated with unawareness of hypertension among Mexican Americans age 65 years and older. METHODS: This was a population-based survey of 3,050 older Mexican Americans conducted in five Southwestern states in 1993-1994. An in-home interview included sociodemographics, review of medications, and blood pressure measurements. RESULTS: Sixty percent of all subjects were hypertensive, and 37% of these were unaware of their diagnosis. Unaware hypertensive had significantly higher mean blood pressures than did aware hypertensives (145.7/ 86.2 mm Hg vs 142.4/83.1 mm Hg). While 77% of aware hypertensives were treated, only 10% of unaware hypertensives were treated. In multivariate analyses, factors associated with unawareness included male gender (OR = 1.8), being married (OR = 1.6), having Medicaid (OR = 1.6), having made fewer than two visits to a doctor in the past year (OR = 2.8), having a history of heart disease (OR = 0.57) or stroke (OR = 0.37), and having poor self-reported health (OR = 0.43). CONCLUSION: Despite 3 decades of hypertension detection and education programs, unawareness of hypertension remains high among older Mexican Americans. There is a continued need for community-based education programs for hypertensives who are unaware of their diagnosis, and also there is need for programs to increase access to primary care physicians.

Aged↗