Beyond direct exposure to violence: effects of living in disordered and violent communities on psychological distress in young Mexican people.

The association between community violence and mental health has been studied by reports of individual experiences, particularly in adolescents and youths, but little is known about the effect of living in disordered and violent communities. This study aims to determine the possible relation between living in disordered and violent community environments and psychological distress in Mexican adolescents and youths regardless of their individual experience of victimization and to assess the potential modifying effect of sex and age on this association. Data come from a cross-sectional survey with a representative sample of adolescents and youths living in Mexican municipalities, including 39,639 participants aged from 12 to 29 years. Disordered and violent community environments were assessed using reports from a secondary sample of adults who lived in the same communities as participants. Using exploratory factor analysis, three contextual variables related to disordered and violent community environment were created: social disorder, vandalism, and criminality. Multilevel linear regression models with random intercept were estimated. Adolescents and youths who lived in environments with higher social disorder had more psychological distress. Men in environments with greater vandalism had a higher level of psychological distress. Unexpectedly, women from communities with higher levels of crime had fewer symptoms. It is necessary to address the violence that exists in these communities, creating strategies that reduce not only crime, but also the social disorder and vandalism that could contribute to developing negative effects on mental health.

Age-friendly initiatives: Mexico.

While the implementation of these initiatives varies globally and continues to face low uptake in the global south, it is crucial to underscore key ongoing efforts, particularly in developing nations. This allows us to have knowledge about progress and identify areas that require more effective strategies to advance the cause of global healthy aging. The aim of this mini-review was to describe some of the key age-friendly initiatives made in Mexico through Governmental and Non-Governmental entities to promote healthy aging, at different levels of health and social institutions, covering the healthcare systems, community, and education.

Beyond direct exposure to violence: effects of living in disordered and violent communities on psychological distress in young Mexican people / Más allá de la exposición directa a la violencia: efectos de residir en comunidades desordenadas y violentas sobre el distrés psicológico entre jóvenes mexicanos / Além da exposição direta à violência: efeitos de viver em comunidades desordenadas e violentas sobre o estresse psicológico entre jovens mexicanos

Abstract: The association between community violence and mental health has been studied by reports of individual experiences, particularly in adolescents and youths, but little is known about the effect of living in disordered and violent communities. This study aims to determine the possible relation between living in disordered and violent community environments and psychological distress in Mexican adolescents and youths regardless of their individual experience of victimization and to assess the potential modifying effect of sex and age on this association. Data come from a cross-sectional survey with a representative sample of adolescents and youths living in Mexican municipalities, including 39,639 participants aged from 12 to 29 years. Disordered and violent community environments were assessed using reports from a secondary sample of adults who lived in the same communities as participants. Using exploratory factor analysis, three contextual variables related to disordered and violent community environment were created: social disorder, vandalism, and criminality. Multilevel linear regression models with random intercept were estimated. Adolescents and youths who lived in environments with higher social disorder had more psychological distress. Men in environments with greater vandalism had a higher level of psychological distress. Unexpectedly, women from communities with higher levels of crime had fewer symptoms. It is necessary to address the violence that exists in these communities, creating strategies that reduce not only crime, but also the social disorder and vandalism that could contribute to developing negative effects on mental health.

Resumen: La asociación entre la violencia comunitaria y la salud mental se ha evaluado mediante informes de experiencias individuales, especialmente de adolescentes y jóvenes, pero poco se sabe sobre el efecto de residir en comunidades desordenadas y violentas. El objetivo de este estudio fue comprobar si existe una relación entre residir en entornos comunitarios desordenados y violentos y el distrés psicológico en adolescentes y jóvenes mexicanos, independientemente de su experiencia individual de victimización, así como evaluar el posible efecto modificador del sexo y la edad en esta asociación. Los datos provienen de una encuesta transversal que tomó como muestra representativa a 39.639 adolescentes y jóvenes de entre 12 y 29 años, residentes en ciudades mexicanas. Los entornos comunitarios desordenados y violentos se evaluaron mediante informes de una muestra secundaria de adultos que residían en las mismas comunidades donde vivían los participantes. El análisis exploratorio de datos posibilitó crear tres variables contextuales relacionadas con el entorno comunitario desordenado y violento: desorden social, vandalismo y delincuencia. Se estimaron modelos de regresión lineal multinivel con intercepto aleatorio. Los adolescentes y jóvenes que residían en ambientes con mayor desorden social presentaron mayor distrés psicológico. Los varones en entornos con más vandalismo tenían un mayor nivel de distrés psicológico. Inesperadamente, las mujeres que viven en comunidades con mayores niveles de delincuencia tuvieron menos síntomas. Es necesario enfrentar la violencia existente en las comunidades para generar estrategias que reduzcan no solo la delincuencia, sino también el desorden social y el vandalismo que pueden contribuir al desarrollo de efectos negativos en la salud mental.

Resumo: A associação entre violência comunitária e saúde mental tem sido estudada por meio de relatos de experiências individuais, particularmente em adolescentes e jovens, mas pouco se sabe sobre o efeito de viver em comunidades desordenadas e violentas. O objetivo deste estudo é determinar se há relação entre viver em ambientes comunitários desordenados e violentos e estresse psicológico em adolescentes e jovens mexicanos, independentemente de sua experiência individual de vitimização, e avaliar o potencial efeito modificador do sexo e da idade sobre essa associação. Os dados são de uma pesquisa transversal com uma amostra representativa de adolescentes e jovens residentes em cidades mexicanas, incluindo 39.639 participantes com idades de 12 a 29 anos. Ambientes comunitários desordenados e violentos foram avaliados por meio de relatos de uma amostra secundária de adultos que viviam nas mesmas comunidades onde os participantes viviam. Por meio da análise exploratória de dados, foram criadas três variáveis contextuais relacionadas ao ambiente comunitário desordenado e violento: desordem social, vandalismo e criminalidade. Foram estimados modelos de regressão linear multinível com interceptação aleatória. Adolescentes e jovens que viviam em ambientes com maior desordem social apresentaram maior estresse psicológico. Homens em ambientes com mais vandalismo apresentaram maior nível de estresse psicológico. Inesperadamente, as mulheres de comunidades com níveis mais altos de criminalidade tiveram menos sintomas. É preciso enfrentar a violência existente nas comunidades, gerando estratégias que reduzam não só a criminalidade, mas também a desordem social e o vandalismo que possam contribuir para o desenvolvimento de efeitos negativos na saúde mental.

La mala autopercepción de salud oral se asocia con la presencia de fragilidad en personas mayores que viven en la comunidad.

OBJETIVO: Determinar la asociación entre mala autopercepción de salud oral y fragilidad en personas mayores. Material y métodos. Estudio transversal en personas mayores de la Ciudad de México. La autopercepción de salud oral se midió con el Geriatric/General Oral Health Assessment Index (GOHAI) y la fragilidad con el fenotipo de Fried y colaboradores. RESULTADOS: 1 173 personas mayores, media de edad de 66.0 (5.7) años, mujeres 46.1% (n=541). La media (IC95%) de GOHAI-Sp fue de 49.2 (48.9-49.6). El 9.2% (n=108) presentaron fragilidad, 59.9% (n=703) prefrágil y 30.9% (n=362) no frágiles. La fuerza de asociación (RM) para mala autopercepción de salud oral y frágil fue RM 2.4 (IC95% 1.5,3.7) y RM ajustada RM 1.7 (IC95% 1.1,2.8), referencia no frágil. No existe asociación significativa para la mala autopercepción de salud oral y prefrágil. Conclusión. La mala autopercepción de salud oral se asocia con la presencia de fragilidad en personas mayores.

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.

Association between the changes in socialsecurity continuity condition and mortality: MHAS 2001-2018 analysis.

OBJECTIVE: To analyze the association of changes in social security (SS) continuity and mortality, using the Mexican Health and Aging Study (MHAS) in people aged 60 years and more. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Retrospective cohort. We analyzed the SS continuity condition -classified as stable, unstable with SS, unstable without SS, and without SS- and its relation with mortality; a probit regression model was utilized to obtain marginal effects, taking into consideration covariates related to mortality. RESULTS: Unstable continuity with and without SS and multimorbidity (two or more diseases) increased the probability of dying by 52.9% (p = 0.000, 95%CI: 0.508,0.551), 50.3% (p = 0.000, 95%CI: 0.474,0.531) and 13.3% (p = 0.000, 95%CI: 0.108,0.159), respectively. Meanwhile, being woman, at least one year of formal education, and marriage reduced it in 8.8% (p = 0.000, 95%CI: -0.106,-0.071), 7% (p = 0.000, 95%CI: -0.091,-0.050) and 7.8% (p = 0.000, 95%CI: -0.096,-0.061), respectively. CONCLUSION: Belonging to SS was associated with higher mortality, compared to other social health determinants, like education.

Psychometric properties of ability to contribute measurements as a domain of functional ability of older persons: a COSMIN systematic review.

BACKGROUND: Older person's ability to contribute covers contributions divided into five subdomains: assisting friends and neighbours, mentoring peers and younger people, caring for family, engaging in the workforce and voluntary activity. OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the psychometric properties of ability to contribute measurements as a domain of functional ability of older persons using Consensus-based Standards for the selection of health Measurement Instruments (COSMIN) methodology for systematic reviews. METHODS: A systematic search was performed in PubMed, Embase and PsycINFO databases, for observational studies published within the last 10 years. The measurement properties of these ability measures were evaluated against the COSMIN taxonomy. Risk-of-bias assessment was performed using the COSMIN Risk of Bias checklist. RESULTS: Of the 32,665 studies identified, we selected 19, of which the main purpose was to develop or validate an instrument or have related items that measure at least one of the subdomains. None of the instruments contained items that were fully related to the five subdomains, 60% (n = 12) were related to voluntary activities and 15% (n = 3) to mentoring peers and younger people. As for psychometric properties, two studies assessed content validity. Factor analysis was used to evaluate structural validity in 10 studies. Internal consistency was evaluated in 63% of the instruments and Cronbach's alpha ranges from 0.63 to 0.92. No study reported predictive validity. A very limited overview of their scope and limitations for their application was observed. CONCLUSIONS: We found no single instrument measuring all subdomains of ability to contribute. We found several instruments containing items that could indirectly measure some of the subdomains of the ability to contribute.

Estimation of vaccination coverage and associated factors in older Mexican adults.

National vaccination programmes recommend the influenza vaccine for older adults, but this population group has the greatest morbidity and mortality from other preventable vaccine diseases. The aim of this article is to estimate the vaccine coverage in adults aged 65 years and older and to analyse the factors that could increase or decrease vaccination uptake probability for the three listed vaccines in the national vaccination programme (influenza, tetanus and diphtheria, and pneumococcus) and the full scheme in Mexico. We conducted an analytical cross-sectional study with 2012, 2018, and 2021 rounds from the National Health and Nutrition Survey, in which we calculated the vaccine coverage estimations and performed multivariable logistic regression models to analyse the factors related to vaccine uptake. Tetanus and diphtheria vaccines had the greatest coverage estimation in all years (59-71%), whereas the pneumococcus vaccine had the lowest (32-53%). Full scheme vaccine coverage decreased from 37.80% to 24.77% in 2012 and 2021, respectively. The National Health Card property, morbidity, being a beneficiary of any health system institution, and use of preventive services increased the probability of vaccine uptake. In conclusion, vaccine coverage in older Mexican adults decreased over time, and the Mexican health system plays a strategic role in immunisation.

Insomnia Impairs Both the Pro-BDNF and the BDNF Levels Similarly to Older Adults with Cognitive Decline: An Exploratory Study.

Sleep disorders, including insomnia, are common during aging, and these conditions have been associated with cognitive decline in older adults. Moreover, during the aging process, neurotransmitters, neurohormones, and neurotrophins decrease significantly, leading to the impairment of cognitive functions. In this sense, BDNF, the most abundant neurotrophic factor in the human brain, has been suggested as a potential target for the prevention and improvement of cognitive decline during aging; however, the current evidence demonstrates that the exogenous administration of BDNF does not improve cognitive function. Hence, in the present study, we quantified pro-BDNF (inactive) and BDNF (active) concentrations in serum samples derived from older individuals with insomnia and/or cognitive decline. We used linear regression to analyze whether clinical or sociodemographic variables impacted the levels of BNDF concentration. We observed that insomnia, rather than cognitive decline, is significantly associated with BDNF concentration, and these effects are independent of other variables. To our knowledge, this is the first study that points to the impact of insomnia on improving the levels of BDNF during aging and suggests that opportune treatment of insomnia may be more beneficial to prevent cognitive decline during aging.

Introduction: Historical Development and Progression of Clinical Research on Ageing.

Research on ageing has developed since Greek times. It had a very slow advance during the Middle Ages and a big increase in the Renaissance. Darwin contributed somehow to the understanding of the ageing process and initiated a cumulus of ageing explications under the name of Evolutionary Theories. Subsequently, science discovered a great number of genes, molecules, and cell processes that intervened in ageing. This led to the beginning of trials in animals to retard or avoid the ageing process. Alongside this, improvements, geriatric clinical investigations (with the evidence-based medicine tools) started to consolidate as a discipline and commenced to show the challenges and deficiencies of actual clinical trials in ageing; the COVID-19 outbreak revealed some of them. The history of clinical research in ageing has already begun and is essential to affront the challenges that the world will face with the increasing ageing population.

Mammography prevalence in Mexico from 2001-2018: Results from the Mexican Health and Aging study.

After introducing guidelines for breast cancer screening in 2003, Mexico began to prioritize the implementation of mammography screening nationally. Since then, there have been no studies assessing changes in mammography in Mexico using the two-year prevalence interval that corresponds to national guidelines for screening frequency. The present study analyzes the Mexican Health and Aging Study (MHAS), a national population-based panel study of adults aged 50 and older, to evaluate changes in 2-year mammography prevalence among women aged 50 to 69 across five survey waves from 2001 to 2018 (n = 11,773). We calculated unadjusted and adjusted mammography prevalence by survey year and health insurance type. Overall prevalence increased substantially from 2003 to 2012 and leveled off in the period from 2012 to 2018 (2001: 20.2 % [95 % CI 18.3, 22.1]; 2003: 22.7 % [20.4, 25.0]; 2012: 56.5 % [53.2, 59.7]; 2015: 62.0 % [58.8, 65.2]; 2018: 59.4 % [56.7,62.1]; unadjusted prevalence). Prevalence was higher among respondents with social security insurance, who are more likely to work in the formal economy, than among respondents without social security, who are more likely to work in the informal economy or be unemployed. The overall prevalence estimates observed were higher than previously published estimates of mammography prevalence in Mexico. More research is needed to confirm findings regarding two-year mammography prevalence in Mexico and to better understand the causes of observed disparities.

Association of loneliness and social isolation with all-cause mortality among older Mexican adults in the Mexican health and aging study: a retrospective observational study.

BACKGROUND: Plenty of evidence shows how social isolation and loneliness are associated with increased risk for numerous diseases and mortality. But findings about their interactive or combined effects on health outcomes and mortality remains inconclusive. OBJECTIVE: Analyze the longitudinal association of loneliness, social isolation and their interactions, with the all-cause mortality among older adults in Mexico. METHODS: A retrospective observational study was conducted. Mexican adults older than 50 years were included. Data from the Mexican Health and Aging Study (MHAS) in the 2015 and 2018 waves were used. The subjects were classified according to their level of loneliness and the presence of social isolation. Multivariate logistic regression analyzes were performed to determine the degree of association between loneliness and social isolation with all-cause mortality at a 3-year follow-up. RESULTS: From the total sample of 11,713 adults aged 50 years or over, 707 (6%) did not survive, 42% presented loneliness, and 53% were classified as socially isolated. After multivariate adjustment only social isolation (OR = 1.30, 95%CI:1.03-1.64) was associated with all-cause mortality, loneliness (Mild: OR = 0.83, 95%CI:0.59-1.16; Severe: OR = 1.03, 95%CI:0.71-1.64), and the interaction between loneliness and social isolation were not associated with all-cause mortality. CONCLUSION: Social isolation, but not loneliness or their interaction, was associated with all-cause mortality in Mexican adults older than 50 years. This finding may help direct possible future interventions that help improve mental health in older adults from a highly collectivistic country.

Self-Organizing Maps to Multidimensionally Characterize Physical Profiles in Older Adults.

The aim of this study is to automatically analyze, characterize and classify physical performance and body composition data of a cohort of Mexican community-dwelling older adults. Self-organizing maps (SOM) were used to identify similar profiles in 562 older adults living in Mexico City that participated in this study. Data regarding demographics, geriatric syndromes, comorbidities, physical performance, and body composition were obtained. The sample was divided by sex, and the multidimensional analysis included age, gait speed over height, grip strength over body mass index, one-legged stance, lean appendicular mass percentage, and fat percentage. Using the SOM neural network, seven profile types for older men and women were identified. This analysis provided maps depicting a set of clusters qualitatively characterizing groups of older adults that share similar profiles of body composition and physical performance. The SOM neural network proved to be a useful tool for analyzing multidimensional health care data and facilitating its interpretability. It provided a visual representation of the non-linear relationship between physical performance and body composition variables, as well as the identification of seven characteristic profiles in this cohort.

Verbal intelligence and leisure activities are associated with cognitive performance and resting-state electroencephalogram.

Cognitive reserve (CR) is the adaptability of cognitive processes that helps to explain differences in the susceptibility of cognitive or daily functions to resist the onslaught of brain-related injury or the normal aging process. The underlying brain mechanisms of CR studied through electroencephalogram (EEG) are scarcely reported. To our knowledge, few studies have considered a combination of exclusively dynamic proxy measures of CR. We evaluated the association of CR with cognition and resting-state EEG in older adults using three of the most frequently used dynamic proxy measures of CR: verbal intelligence, leisure activities, and physical activities. Multiple linear regression analyses with the CR proxies as independent variables and cognitive performance and the absolute power (AP) on six resting-state EEG components (beta, alpha1, alpha2, gamma, theta, and delta) as outcomes were performed. Eighty-eight healthy older adults aged 60-77 (58 female) were selected from previous study data. Verbal intelligence was a significant positive predictor of perceptual organization, working memory, processing speed, executive functions, and central delta power. Leisure activities were a significant positive predictor of posterior alpha2 power. The dynamic proxy variables of CR are differently associated with cognitive performance and resting-state EEG. Implementing leisure activities and tasks to increase vocabulary may promote better cognitive performance through compensation or neural efficiency mechanisms.

In response to the comment on the article "Variability in case fatality rate risk due to Covid-19 according to health services provider in Mexico City hospitals"

Not available.

Patterns of Muscle-Related Risk Factors for Sarcopenia in Older Mexican Women.

Early detriment in the muscle mass quantity, quality, and functionality, determined by calf circumference (CC), phase angle (PA), gait time (GT), and grip strength (GSt), may be considered a risk factor for sarcopenia. Patterns derived from these parameters could timely identify an early stage of this disease. Thus, the present work aims to identify those patterns of muscle-related parameters and their association with sarcopenia in a cohort of older Mexican women with neural network analysis. Methods: Information from the functional decline patterns at the end of life, related factors, and associated costs study was used. A self-organizing map was used to analyze the information. A SOM is an unsupervised machine learning technique that projects input variables on a low-dimensional hexagonal grid that can be effectively utilized to visualize and explore properties of the data allowing to cluster individuals with similar age, GT, GSt, CC, and PA. An unadjusted logistic regression model assessed the probability of having sarcopenia given a particular cluster. Results: 250 women were evaluated. Mean age was 68.54 ± 5.99, sarcopenia was present in 31 (12.4%). Clusters 1 and 2 had similar GT, GSt, and CC values. Moreover, in cluster 1, women were older with higher PA values (p < 0.001). From cluster 3 upward, there is a trend of worse scores for every variable. Moreover, 100% of the participants in cluster 6 have sarcopenia (p < 0.001). Women in clusters 4 and 5 were 19.29 and 90 respectively, times more likely to develop sarcopenia than those from cluster 2 (p < 0.01). Conclusions: The joint use of age, GSt, GT, CC, and PA is strongly associated with the probability women have of presenting sarcopenia.

Variability in case fatality rate risk due to Covid-19 according to health services provider in Mexico City hospitals.

OBJECTIVE: To describe differences in Case Fatality Rate (CFR) for Covid-19 among healthcare subsystems in Mexico City between March and December 2020. MATERIALS AND METHODS: This is a retrospective secondary data analysis from the National Epidemiological Surveillance System data of Covid-19 cases. Information about health provider institutions was retrieved from the Catalogue of Health Establishments (CLUES). Logistic regressions were fitted to determine the association between health subsystems and mortality associated to Covid-19. The analyses were divided between hospitalized and ambulatory patients. RESULTS: The probability of dying from Covid-19 was higher among those treated at Instituto Mexicano del Seguro Social (IMSS) (Hospitalized:OR=5.11, Ambulatory:OR=36.57), Instituto de Se-guridad y Servicios Sociales de los Trabajadores del Estado (ISSSTE) (Hospitalized:OR=2.10, Ambulatory:OR=9.19), Secretaría de Salud (SS) (Hospitalized:OR=1.94, Ambulatory:OR=5.29) or other public institutions (Hospitalized: OR=1.70, Ambulatory:OR=9.56) than in those treated in private in-stitutions. CONCLUSIONS: Differences in healthcare quality and access between health subsystems are profound. It is imperative to increase the capacity and quality of the different health subsystems to improve health outcomes.

Variability in case fatality rate risk due to Covid-19 according to health services provider in Mexico City hospitals / Variabilidad en el riesgo de mortalidad por Covid-19 según proveedor de servicios de salud en hospitals de la Ciudad de México

Abstract Objective: To describe differences in Case Fatality Rate (CFR) for Covid-19 among healthcare subsystems in Mexico City between March and December 2020. Materials and methods: This is a retrospective secondary data analysis from the National Epidemiological Surveillance System data of Covid-19 cases. Information about health provider institutions was retrieved from the Catalogue of Health Establishments (CLUES). Logistic regressions were fitted to determine the association between health subsystems and mortality associated to Covid-19. The analyses were divided between hospitalized and ambulatory patients. Results: The probability of dying from Covid-19 was higher among those treated at Instituto Mexicano del Seguro Social (IMSS) (Hospitalized:OR=5.11, Ambulatory:OR=36.57), Instituto de Seguridad y Servicios Sociales de los Trabajadores del Estado (ISSSTE) (Hospitalized:OR=2.10, Ambulatory:OR=9.19), Secretaría de Salud (SS) (Hospitalized:OR=1.94, Ambulatory:OR=5.29) or other public institutions (Hospitalized: OR=1.70, Ambulatory: OR=9.56) than in those treated in private institutions. Conclusions: Differences in healthcare quality and access between health subsystems are profound. It is imperative to increase the capacity and quality of the different health subsystems to improve health outcomes.

Resumen Objetivo: Describir diferencias en letalidad por Covid-19 entre subsistemas de salud en la Ciudad de México entre marzo y diciembre de 2020. Material y métodos: Análisis secundario retrospectivo del Sistema Nacional de Vigilancia Epidemiológica sobre casos Covid-19. La información sobre instituciones proveedoras de salud fue obtenida del Catálogo de Establecimientos de Salud. Se ajustaron regresiones logísticas para determinar la asociación entre los subsistemas de salud y la mortalidad atribuida a Covid-19. Los análisis se dividieron entre pacientes hospitalizados y ambulatorios. Resultados: La probabilidad de morir fue mayor entre aquéllos atendidos en el Instituto Mexicano del Seguro Social (IMSS) (Hospitalizados: OR=5.11, Ambulatorios: OR=36.57), Instituto de Seguridad y Servicios Sociales de los Trabajadores del Estado (ISSSTE) (Hospitalizados: OR=2.10, Ambulatorios: OR=9.19), Secretaría de Salud (SS) (Hospitalizados: OR=1.94, Ambulatorio: OR=5.29) u otras instituciones públicas (Hospitalizados: OR=1.70, Ambulatorio: OR=9.56) que en los atendidos en instituciones privadas. Conclusiones: Las diferencias en calidad y acceso a la atención médica entre subsistemas de salud son profundas. Urge aumentar la capacidad y la calidad de los subsistemas de salud para mejorar los resultados en salud.

Widowhood Status and Cognitive Function in Community-Dwelling Older Adults from the Mexican Health and Aging Study (MHAS).

We aimed to determine the association between the duration of widowhood and cognition decline. We compared the decline observed in widowed people compared with married, single, or separated persons using the scores obtained in the cognitive assessment of memory, learning, and visual exploration by adults and older adults in Mexico. The Mexican Health and Aging Study (MHAS) provides the base for this paper. This study is an analysis of the fourth data wave (2015), except for the independent variable: marital status. Marital status was built longitudinally with information from the four surveys (2001, 2003, 2012, and 2015). The sample comprised 6898 adults aged 50 and over. Cognition was assessed with an adapted Cross-Cultural Cognitive Examination (CCCE). Confounders include sociodemographic characteristics (sex, age, schooling, self-perception of economic status, and whether the individual worked or not), multimorbidity, functionality, support networks, and psychological characteristics. Of the total sample, 4094 (59.3%) were women. The mean age was 70.86 years (SD = 7.4). The baseline of the study is 2001. In 2001, 8.7% (n = 600) were widows or widowers. People widowed by 2001 scored -0.158 points in cognition while divorced participants scored - 0.095 points.

Last Year of Life, Frailty, and Out-of-Pocket Expenses in Older Adults: A Secondary Analysis of the Mexican Health and Aging Study.

OBJECTIVE: To determine the association of frailty with out-of-pocket expenses (OOPEs) during the last year of life of Mexican older adults. METHODS: Cross-sectional secondary analysis of the Mexican Health and Aging Study (MHAS), a representative population-based cohort study. Health care expenses were estimated, and a probit model was used to estimate the probability that older adults had OOPE. A general linear model was applied to explain OOPE magnitudes. RESULTS: A total of 55.8% of individuals reported having OOPE with a mean of 3,261 USD. Average OOPE for hospitalization during the last year of life was 7,011.9 USD. Older adults taking their own medical decisions during the last year of life expended less than those who did not. CONCLUSION: No affiliation to health services, frailty, and health decision-making by others increased the probability of OOPE. The magnitude is determined by age, hospitalization, medical visits, affiliation, frailty, and health decision-making by others.