Important Research Articles

Important Research Articles

......Blackhall, Leslie, Sheila Murphy, Gelya Frank, Vicki Michel, and Stanley Azen. "Ethnicity and Attitudes toward Patient Autonomy" JAMA, 274: 10 (1995) 820-825. A study of the differences in the attitudes of elderly subjects from different ethnic groups toward disclosure of the diagnosis and prognosis of a terminal illness and toward end-of-life decision making.

.....Wallace, Steven P. "Community Formation as an Activity of Daily Living: The Case of Nicaraguan Immigrant Elderly." Journal of Aging Studies. 6:4 (Winter 1992), 365-384. A qualitative research study that shows how the elderly in one community are important contributors to the life of that community along several different dimensions. Interesting discussions of language and immigrant community institutions.

.....Douglas K. Miller, Myrtle E. Carter, Phillip Miller, Jane E. Fornoff, Judy Bentley, Sheila D. Boyd, Jason H. Rogers, Matthew N. Cox, John E. Morley, Li-Yung Lily Lui, Rodney M. Coe. "Inner-City Older Blacks Have High Levels of Functional Disability". Journal of American Geriatric Society, (1996) 44, 1-8. This cross-sectional descriptive study compared and contrasts the frequency and severity of functional problems in two community-based inner-city African- Americans and an age-matched cohort of white and black older adults. This paper documents the generally poorer health status and greater health risk of poor inner-city black elders when compared to other ethnic and socioeconomic control groups.

.....Horace M. Perry, III, Douglas K. Miller, John E. Morley, Michael Horowitz, Fran E. Kaiser, H. Mitchell Perry, Jr., Judy Jensen, Judy Bentley, Sheila Boyd, Dale Kraenzle. "A Preliminary Report of Vitamin D and Calcium Metabolism in Older African Americans" Journal of American Geriatrics Society (1993) 41: 612-616. Normal serum bone-related biochemical variables in 32 African-Americans aged 68-93 and 43 white Americans aged 70-89 were determined. This report documents parameters of mineral metabolism in aging African-Americans.

.....Horace M. Perry, III, Dale Kraenzle, Douglas K. Miller. "Paget's Disease in African-Americans" Clinical Geriatrics, (1995), 3, 69-74. This paper draws attention to the surprisingly high prevalence of osteitis deformans in African-Americans. Those African-Americans with Paget's Disease had a higher frequency of admixture of racial background than did those without Paget's Disease (p<0.05).

.....Clark, DO, Mungai SM, Stump, TE, and Wolinsky, FD. "Prevalence and impact of risk factors for lower body difficulty among Mexican Americans, African Americans and whites." Journals of Gerontology. Series A, Biological Sciences & Medical Sciences (1997) 52 (2): M97-105. This study estimates the prevalence of sociodemographic, health behavior, chronic disease, and impairment factors and their impact on difficulty in lower body function among two age cohorts (51-61 and 71-81) of Mexican Americans, African Americans and whites. The risk factors are more prevalent among both minority groups and the older age cohort.

.....Stump PE, Clark DO, Johnson RJ and Wolinsky FD. "The structure of health status among Hispanic, African American, and white older adults." Journals of Gerontology. Series B, Psychological Sciences & Social Sciences (1997) 52: 49-60. The study on Asset and Health Dynamics Among the Oldest Old (AHEAD) is used to replicate a 5-dimensional model composed of activities of daily living (ADLs), instrumental ADLs, and disability markers as markers of functional status. The dominant role of lower body disability on the everyday activities of older adults and on their perceived health and depression are confirmed.

.....Clark DO, Callahan CM, Mungai SM, Wolinsky FD. "Physical function among retirement-aged African American men and women." Gerontologist (1996) 36(3): 322-331. Using a large sample of African Americans (649 men and 957 women) from the 1992 Health and Retirement Study (HRS), this study attempts of identify factors associated with major lower body movements. Many of the factors associated with difficulty in physical function among both men and women are potentially preventable or manageable.

.....Douglas K. Miller, Myrtle E. Carter, Robert H. Sigmund, John Q. Smith, J.Phillip Miller, Judy A. Bentley, Kim McDonald, Rodney M Coe, John E. Morley. "Nutritional Risk in Inner-City Dwelling Older Black Americans." Journal of American Geriatrics Society (1996) 44, 959-962. This cross-sectional descriptive study shows that the degree of nutritional risk in older inner-city black Americans is great. The article identifies the important underlying factors associated with high nutritional risk.

.....Susan V. Hopper. "The Influence of Ethnicity on the Health of Older Women." Clinics in Geriatric Medicine, (1993) 9,1, 231-259. This article focuses on the role that ethnicity plays in the health of minority elderly women. Risks to health, health beliefs and behaviors, and health care access and use are discussed for African American, American Indian, Hispanic, Asian and Pan-Asian elderly women.

.....Horace M. Perry III, Michael Horowitz, John E. Morley, Shantiel Fleming, Judy Jensen, Pam Caccione, Douglas K. Miller, Fran E. Kaiser, Murali Sundarum. "Aging and Bone Metabolism in African American and Caucasian Women." Journal of Clinical Endocrinology and Metabolism (1996) 81, 3, 1108-1116. This cross-sectional study of 54 African-American and 39 Caucasian females quantified femoral and lumbar bone mineral density and total body calcium. Bone density, risk of fracture, and serum blood levels of estradiol and testosterone differed between the two groups.

.....Ramon Valle. "Culture-Fair Behavioral Symptom Differential Assessment and Intervention in Dementing Illness" Alzheimer Disease and Associated Disorders, 8: Suppl. 3 (1994), 21-45. A pilot study to test a culture-fair behavioral assessment and intervention model with Hispanic and Anglo dementia caregivers is described. Statistically significant differences were found in reactivity to caregiving burden, caregiver health status, coping and helpseeking styles, and configuration of social support; additional analyses sustained the findings despite income, education, and age differences.