Correlates of Single Versus Multiple Functional Disabilities Among Aging Americans: Race/Ethnicity and Region of Birth

Background: Significant racial/ethnic disparities exist in the prevalence of functional disability among older Americans.

Objective: The study analyzed the odds of older people in the United States experiencing single and multiple disabilities, by race and region of birth.

Method: Data came from the American Community Survey (2011-2015). Multinomial logistic regression analysis was used.

Results: Region of birth, race/ethnicity, age, citizenship status, duration of stay, sex, marital status, veteran status, educational attainment, poverty status, and class of workers were all significantly associated with reports of either single or multiple disabilities. However, the introduction of the interaction terms for citizenship status by race modified some of the significant results. For instance, being born in Latin America no longer reduced the odds in reports of both single and multiple disabilities. However, compared with Whites and native-born of all races, both Hispanics who were either naturalized or were noncitizens had lower odds of reporting multiple disabilities (27% and 28% lower, respectively), whereas naturalized Hispanics also had significantly reduced odds (22%) for a single disability.

Conclusion: These findings add to the disability, race/ethnicity, and place of birth literature.