Mexican-American ethnicity and cognitive function: findings from an elderly southwestern sample.

Relatively little is known about late-life patterns of cognitive function among Hispanics of Mexican heritage who reside in the United States. The authors designed a study to assess the association between Mexican-American ethnicity (defined in terms of childhood and adolescent developmental history) and cognitive function among elderly Mexican-American and non-Hispanic white residents of El Paso County, Texas. Our findings indicate significant associations between the degree of Mexican-American ethnicity and cognitive impairment on all three measures of cognitive function. These statistically significant findings remain after effects of education, age, and gender have been removed from the multiple regression equation. The authors conclude that a dependable and clinically meaningful negative association exists between Mexican-American ethnicity and late-life cognitive function in this region that is mediated by as yet unmeasured variables.