EFFECTS OF SYNERGISTIC DEPRESSIVE SYMPTOMS AND DIABETES ON MOBILITY IN OLDER MEXICAN AMERICAN ADULTS

• Published in: Innovation in aging 2017-07, Vol.1 (suppl_1), p.320-320
• Main Authors: Mutambudzi, M., Chen, N., Markides, K.S.
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Abstracts
• ISSN: 2399-5300; 2399-5300
• DOI: 10.1093/geroni/igx004.1183

Current literature suggests that diabetes and depressive symptoms are independently associated with mobility, and that mobility in turn may predict disability and mortality. This study aimed to investigate the synergistic effect of depressive symptoms and diabetes on mobility as measured by performance oriented mobility assessment (POMA) scores over a 9-year period in older Mexican Americans. A secondary objective was to examine whether mobility scores over time were associated with increased risk of functional disability and mortality. We used data from 1,458 participants of the Hispanic Established Population for the Epidemiological Study of the Elderly (H-EPESE) survey, for adults 75 years and older for the years 2004–2013. Generalized linear mixed models were used to examine the effects of synergistic depressive symptoms and diabetes on mobility over the study period, after which we examined the effect of mobility over time on disability and mortality. Our findings suggested that diabetes and depressive symptoms were significantly and independently associated with mobility over time. Synergistic depressive symptoms and diabetes however were not significantly associated with mobility. The change of POMA scores over time when compared to the baseline (2004–2005) scores was strongly associated with functional disability (p=