Parkinson’s Disease, Diabetes, Functional Decline and Cognitive Impairment: A Comparative Study of Elderly Mexican Americans and Non-Hispanic Whites

We interviewed a stratified random sample of 1,152 non-institutionalized elderly (65 years and older) residents of El Paso County, Texas, during 2000-2001. This sample represents 84 percent of respondents originally contacted for interview. The survey instrument was translated into Spanish through cross-translation. In-home interviews were conducted in Spanish or English, depending on respondents' preference. Twenty-four census tracts were randomly selected from 94 census tracts specified in the 1990 census after stratification for median income and ethnic composition. Specifically, eight census tracts were randomly selected from the lower, middle, and upper-middle income categories.