The Association of Perceived Discrimination to Functional Limitation Among Immigrant Women Living in the U.S

TL;DR

This study finds that immigrant women in the U.S. who experience discrimination have more functional limitations, affecting their independence.

Contribution

The study establishes a novel link between perceived discrimination and functional decline in older immigrant women.

Findings

Immigrant women who experience any discrimination have 1.25 times more functional limitations.

Frequent discrimination is associated with 1.39 times more functional limitations.

The study uses data from the Health and Retirement Study (2008-2018) with 2,773 participants.

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to examine if perceived discrimination of middle aged and older (50+) immigrant women is associated with a decline in functional status. Immigrants moving to the United States face unique challenges in meeting their healthcare needs. They have increased risk for experiencing discrimination, which impacts health negatively. One area, discrimination, may effect functional ability, which is important to maintaining independence and involvement in community. Thus, we aimed to understand if discrimination has a relationship with functional status among a sample of middle aged and older (50+) immigrant women who participated in the Health and Retirement Study (HRS) during the period 2008-2018 (n = 2,773). We used Poisson regression with robust standard errors to examine the association between perceived discrimination (using responses from the Perceived Everyday Discrimination Scale) and functional status (counts of assistance required for ADLs and IADLs). In our sample, 36% reported discrimination and 17% reported frequent discrimination. Our models indicated that immigrant women who report experiencing any discrimination have 1.25 times greater number of limitations than women who are not experiencing discrimination (RR = 1.25; 95% CI = 1.04, 1.51; p = 0.020), and those immigrant women experiencing frequent discrimination have 1.39 times greater number of limitations than women who are not experiencing frequent discrimination (RR = 1.39; 95% CI = 1.12, 1.73; p; = 0.003). Understanding the relationship between discrimination and functional health is important for healthcare professionals to anticipate the needs of immigrant women and respond with appropriate interventions aimed at improving and sustaining functional health.