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Multiple Chronic Conditions and Disability among Vietnamese Older Adults: Results from the Vietnamese Aging and Care Survey (VACS)

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Abstract

Using data from Vietnamese-origin older immigrants/refugees in the Houston, Texas area, we assessed their overall health, chronic conditions, disability, depressive symptoms, and cognitive impairment, and examined the association between their chronic conditions and disability by comorbidity clusters. The mean age of the sample was 76 years old. The majority were married in fair/poor health with several chronic conditions and disabilities and lived with families in low-income households. Hypertension and arthritis were the most common health conditions, but cognitive impairment had the most significant impact on their disability. They experienced similar health conditions to other older Americans but had higher rates of depressive symptoms and cognitive impairment possibly due to cultural factors that may have delayed mental health treatment. Culturally and linguistically tailored services created by policymakers, healthcare professionals, and local social service agencies are recommended for the well-being of immigrants/refugees who migrated to the U.S. for a better life.

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Data Availability

The data that support the findings of this study are available from the corresponding author upon reasonable request.

Code Availability

Not applicable.

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Acknowledgements

The authors appreciate the Executive Directors of VN TeamWork and BPSOS, as well as a countless number of Vietnamese key informants who facilitated years of sample recruitment. We thank all the Vietnamese older adults and their family caregivers who welcomed us to their homes and shared their health information despite their busy lives.

Funding

Miyawaki was partially funded by the National Institutes of Health (NIH)/National Institute on Aging (NIA) Texas Resource Center for Minority Aging Research (RCMAR) (P30AG059301). Park’s time was funded by the NIA of the NIH under Award Number R24AG063718 and R56AG069130.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Graduate College of Social Work, University of Houston, Houston, TX, 77204, USA

    Christina E. Miyawaki

  2. Department of Psychology, University of Houston, Houston, TX, 77204, USA

    Joshua M. Garcia

  3. College of Education, University of Houston, Houston, TX, 77204, USA

    Kim N. Nguyen

  4. University of California San Francisco, School of Nursing, San Francisco, CA, 94143, USA

    Van Ta Park

  5. University of Texas Medical Branch, Galveston, TX, 78701, USA

    Kyriakos S. Markides

Authors
  1. Christina E. Miyawaki
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  2. Joshua M. Garcia
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  3. Kim N. Nguyen
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  4. Van Ta Park
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  5. Kyriakos S. Markides
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Contributions

Christina Miyawaki contributed to the study conception, C. Miyawaki, Joshua Garcia, and Kyriakos Markides developed the study design. C. Miyawaki prepared the materials guided by K. Markides. Kim Nguyen and C. Miyawaki collected data, and J. Garcia analyzed the data. The first draft of the manuscript was written by C. Miyawaki and J. Garcia, and K. Markides and Van Ta Park critically reviewed and edited the first manuscript. All authors commented on several versions of the manuscript, and read and approved the final manuscript.

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Christina E. Miyawaki.

Ethics declarations

Ethics Approval

This study was performed in line with the principles of the Declaration of Helsinki. Approval was granted by the Ethics Committee of the University of Houston (July 4, 2017/STUDY00000419 for VACS Wave 1 and December 18, 2020/STUDY00002733 for VACS Wave 2).

Consent to Participate

Informed consent was obtained from all individual participants included in the study.

Consent to Publish

Informed consent for publication was obtained from all individual participants included in the study.

Competing Interests

The authors have no relevant financial or non-financial interests to disclose.

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Miyawaki, C.E., Garcia, J.M., Nguyen, K.N. et al. Multiple Chronic Conditions and Disability among Vietnamese Older Adults: Results from the Vietnamese Aging and Care Survey (VACS). J. Racial and Ethnic Health Disparities (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s40615-023-01652-z

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