Global Journal of Biology, Agriculture & Health Sciences

Abstract

Evidence of the “Hispanic Paradox” from the Poverty and Disability Nexus in the Hispanic Farmworker Population of the United States

Carlos Siordia & Athena K Ramos

tract Previous research has provided evidence for the Hispanic Paradox—the fact that Hispanics are sometimes found to have lower risk for adverse health outcomes than more economically advantaged groups. We sought to identify evidence of the Hispanic Paradox in the Hispanic farmworker population of the contiguous United States (US). We wanted to investigate if the Hispanic Paradox only applied to Hispanics of Mexican-origin or to all Hispanics. Our cross-sectional analysis used the American Community Survey (ACS) Public Use Microdata Sample (PUMS) 2009-2013 (5-year) file. A total of 60,923 farmworkers in the US mainland were included in our analysis—which represents 1,144,021 farmworkers in the US mainland. We found prevalence of and risk for disability and poverty varied significantly between racial-ethnic groups. A population-weighted multivariable logistic regression found that when compared to Non-Hispanic-Whites, Mexican-origin Hispanics and Non-Mexican-Hispanics were less likely to have a disability—25% and 20% respectively. We also found that when compared to Non-Hispanic-Whites, Mexican-origin Hispanics and Non-Mexican-Hispanics were more likely to be in-poverty—117% and 96% respectively. Our findings suggest the Hispanic Paradox applies to disability for both Mexican- and non-Mexican-origin Hispanics. Understanding causal mechanisms of the potential paradox may help identify protective factors in disablement processes.

Published Date: 2015-07-29;