Evidence of reduced health-related quality of life in older Mexican Americans with arthritis.

OBJECTIVE To examine the association between self-reported physician-diagnosed arthritis and health-related quality of life among older Mexican Americans. DESIGN Cross-sectional study involving population-based survey. SETTING Hispanic Established Population for the Epidemiologic Study of the Elderly (EPESE) survey conducted in Texas, Arizona, New Mexico, Colorado, and California. PARTICIPANTS 839 non-institutionalized Mexican American older adults (> or = 75 years) participating in Hispanic EPESE. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES Self-reported physician-diagnosed arthritis; sociodemographic variables; medical conditions; body mass index; and the physical and mental composite scales from the Medical Outcomes Study Short Form 36 Health Survey (SF-36). RESULTS 518 (62%) of the subjects reported physician-diagnosed arthritis. Participants with arthritis had significantly lower scores on the physical composite scale (PCS) (mean = 35.3, SD = 11.3) and the mental composite scale (MCS) (mean = 53.5, SD = 10.8) of the SF-36 compared to persons without arthritis (PCS mean = 42.9, SD = 10.9; MCS mean = 57.0, SD = 8.8). Multiple regression showed that arthritis was associated with decreased PCS and MCS (model estimates of -5.74 [SE = .83]; and -3.16 [SE = .64]), respectively, after controlling for sociodemographic and clinical covariates. CONCLUSIONS Arthritis is a highly prevalent medical condition in Mexican American older adults. Our findings suggest that deficits in both physical health and mental function contribute to reduced quality-of-life in this population.