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Biomedical subjects

D M Timbers

Publications and source records attributed to D M Timbers.

6 recordsLinked to original sources
PubMed1987

Six-month prevalence of specific psychiatric disorders among Mexican Americans and non-Hispanic whites in Los Angeles.

The current prevalence of DSM-III psychiatric disorders was assessed using the Diagnostic Interview Schedule (DIS) as part of a Los Angeles household population survey. The Los Angeles prevalence estimates were compared with sex- and age-adjusted estimates from four other US field sites, all of which were part of the Epidemiologic Catchment Area (ECA) program. Overall, few significant differences in household population rates were found between Los Angeles and the other ECA sites. Within the Los Angeles household sample, the current prevalence of disorder among Mexican Americans was compared with that among non-Hispanic whites. Non-Hispanic whites had higher rates of drug abuse/dependence than Mexican Americans; the rates among non-Hispanic whites in Los Angeles were also higher than those found at other ECA sites. Mexican Americans displayed higher rates of severe cognitive impairment, a finding that likely reflects ethnic and educational bias in the measurement of cognitive impairment. Another ethnic difference was found only for one specific age and sex group: Mexican-American women 40 years of age or older had strikingly high rates of phobia.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1987

Lifetime prevalence of specific psychiatric disorders among Mexican Americans and non-Hispanic whites in Los Angeles.

The lifetime prevalence of specific DSM-III-defined psychiatric disorders among 1243 Mexican-American and 1309 non-Hispanic white residents of two Los Angeles communities is reported from the Los Angeles site of the Epidemiologic Catchment Area (ECA) research study. Results from household interviews in response to the National Institute of Mental Health Diagnostic Interview Schedule revealed overall rates of disorders for the total Los Angeles sample and ethnic subsamples that were similar to rates reported from the initial three ECA sites. Non-Hispanic whites reported far more drug abuse/dependence and more major depressive episodes than Mexican Americans. Young non-Hispanic white women reported high rates of major depressive episodes and drug abuse/dependence. Alcohol abuse/dependence is highly prevalent among Mexican-American and non-Hispanic white men of any age. Mexican-American women infrequently abuse or become dependent on drugs or alcohol at any age. Dysthymia, panic disorder, and phobia are somewhat more prevalent among Mexican-American women over 40 years of age compared with both non-Hispanic white women over and Mexican-American women under 40 years of age. Antisocial personality is predominantly a disorder of young men of both ethnic groups.

Adult↗
PubMed1987

Utilization of health and mental health services by Los Angeles Mexican Americans and non-Hispanic whites.

Utilization of general medical and mental health services by respondents in the Los Angeles Epidemiologic Catchment Area (ECA) site was compared with that in three ECA sites studied previously (New Haven, Conn, Baltimore, and St Louis). Within the Los Angeles sample, Mexican-American patterns of utilization were compared with those for non-Hispanic whites. Los Angeles respondents were less likely than those at other ECA sites to make ambulatory health care visits and to be hospitalized for physical or mental health reasons. Mexican Americans were less likely than non-Hispanic whites to report ambulatory health care but were as likely to have been hospitalized. Six percent of Los Angeles respondents reported a recent mental-health-care visit as compared with 6% to 7% of respondents at the other ECA sites. However, among respondents with Diagnostic Interview Schedule DSM-III disorders diagnosed within the six months prior to the interview, a lower proportion made a mental health visit in Los Angeles (14%) compared with the other sites (16% to 20%). Of those who made a mental-health-care visit, Los Angeles respondents with a recently diagnosed disorder were more likely than comparable respondents at the other ECA sites to visit a mental health specialist rather than a general medical care provider. Mexican Americans with a recently diagnosed mental disorder were only half as likely as non-Hispanic whites (11% vs 22%, respectively) to have made a mental health visit. However, when Mexican Americans with Diagnostic Interview Schedule/DSM-III did make a mental health visit, they were as likely as non-Hispanic whites to see a mental health specialist.

Adult↗
PubMed1984

Aging and health: a longitudinal study.

A set of double jeopardy hypotheses predicting there is a double health disadvantage in growing old and being a member of an ethnic minority, female, of lower socioeconomic status, and unmarried is tested with data from a 4-yr longitudinal study of older Mexican Americans and Anglos. With the exception of socioeconomic status, little support is found for the double jeopardy predictions in a multivariate analysis of change in health. When subjects who died during the study interval were included in the analysis by assigning them the lowest score on health, the results changed somewhat: the relationship between age and decline in health was strengthened and the effect of sex changed from a direction suggesting that women show greater declines in health with age to a direction suggesting that men experience greater declines in health with age. Implications of the effect of decreased dropouts for studies on aging and health are discussed.

Aged↗